


Come On Mess Me Up

by nothingwithoutyouxo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-19 01:22:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 48,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8183533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingwithoutyouxo/pseuds/nothingwithoutyouxo
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy has never had much interest in girls, and apparently they’ve never had much interest in him either which suits him very well. But when a Gryffindor girl starts romantically pursuing him, Scorpius finds himself at a loss on how to turn her down, because girls are really sensitive, right? He eventually comes to the decision, with the help of his friends, that pretending to date someone else solve the situation he’s found himself in. Rose suggests that he should fake date Albus, a least for a little while, thinking it’ll help the two of them get together. The only problem being that Albus was already in love with Scorpius, which could make the situation even more difficult than they thought it would be.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> So I have this problem where now that I've started writing these two I can't actually stop. They've consumed in the worst way possible, and I'm on mid-semester break so I have a lot of time on my hands. So here's a longer fic, a chaptered fic. I'm going to update this weekly. Hopefully it'll heal some of the wounds that The Cursed Child left. The fic doesn't go off the play itself so you can disregard it for the sake of this fic. I hope you all like it :)

At the beginning of every wizarding year Platform 9¾ was always full of witches and wizards saying goodbye to their children as they prepared to board the Hogwarts Express. The Potters and Granger-Weasleys were making their way through King’s Cross Station, pushing trolleys full of luggage for their trip. 

 

“Do you think it’s going to be any different this year?” Rose asked, looking over at her cousin.

 

“What could be different?” Albus asked.

 

“Well, it’s our OWLs year” Rose shrugged. She threw a look behind her, watching as their family trailed behind them. Her parents were a fair distance behind them, walking next to Albus’ parents and talking amongst themselves. Lily and Hugo were in front of them, pushing their luggage and talking about how excited they were to get on the train and head off to Hogwarts once again. They weren’t running late by any means and could take their time.

 

“Hey, James?” Albus called to his brother. He was a few steps behind them, looking less than excited to go back. Albus knew it was because this would be the last year that James would be heading to Hogwarts at all. 

 

“Yeah?” James asked, speeding up a little so he was next to the two of them. 

 

“What were your OWLs like?”.

 

A look of horror made it’s way onto James’ face as he recalled sleepless nights filled with coffee and the uptight atmosphere of the common room during exams. The irritation between friends that usually got along as they succumbed to the stress of their situation was still somehow fresh in his mind. He somehow knew that it would only be worst when his NEWTs rolled around that year. “It was hell on earth” he replied, a far off look in his eyes.

 

“Well that’s reassuring” Rose muttered. 

 

“Maybe we should avoid thinking about that” Albus suggested. “At least for the moment”. 

 

The three of them paused, waiting for the rest of their family to catch up before they rushed the barrier between platforms. Lily and Hugo went first. Then Hermione, who always managed to see her children off Minister for Magic or not, and Ron. Rose and Albus went next followed by Harry and Ginny. The platform was full of parents seeing of their children off and with students finding their friends. The moment that Albus reached the other side of the barrier he started scanning the crowd for a specific shade of blonde hair. 

 

“He’ll be here” Rose said to him, smirking and watching as his eyes darted around in search of his best friend. 

 

“I know” Albus replied, rolling his eyes at her. “Doesn’t hurt to look”.

 

“Are you four ready for another year?” Harry asked, looking around at his children, niece and nephew. 

 

“Yes!” Lily beamed. 

 

He smiled at her. There was always a distinct look of longing in his eyes at the start of a new year. Albus wondered briefly how difficult it was to know that you would never board the Hogwarts Express again. Especially when it had meant as much to you as it had to his dad. 

 

“You two will take care of your sister won’t you?” Ginny asked, hugging her sons tightly. 

 

“You know we will, mum” James reminded her.

  
“And you enjoy your last year” she said to him. “It’ll definitely be easy than mine”. 

 

James had heard about his mother’s last year at Hogwarts. It was in the midst of Second Wizarding War. He was grateful that he wouldn’t have to experience anything like that himself. His NEWTs were going to be hard enough to focus on as it was. “I know”.

 

Albus hugged his dad tightly. He knew how hard it was for Harry to watch them off every year, but he insisted. “You take care of yourself and mum” he said. 

 

“You remember to write”.

 

“I will. I’ll tell Scorpius to remind me” Albus laughed, pulling away again.

 

“Good”. Even though Harry hadn’t been expecting his son to befriend the son of an old enemy of his, he was just happy that Albus had friends. And that he was happy. He might have been shocked initially but Scorpius was nothing like his father had been at his age, which was something wonderful. 

 

“You’ll take care of your brother now” Hermione said as she let go of her daughter and reached for her son.

 

“You know I always do, mum” Rose beamed before hugging her dad

 

“I’ll send you something from the shop every other week” he whispered in her ear.

 

She laughed and pulled away. “You take care of yourself too, dad” she smirked. 

 

Hermione rolled her eyes at the two of them. “Now you remember to write” she said to her son.

 

“Mum!” Hugo groaned.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll remind him” Rose smiled. There was a call for students to start boarding and Rose looked over at Albus to see him still scanning the crowd, getting more frantic by the minute. She laughed and walked over to him. “You ok?” she asked. 

 

“Can you see him?” Albus asked, his eyes flicking to Rose quickly and then back to the large mass of witches and wizards. 

 

“No, but I can see his dad” Rose nudged him, pointed in the direction of the flash of blonde hair that seemed to be making its way over to them. She was a little bit grateful that the Malfoy’s had such distinct hair, they’d have a terrible time finding Scorpius otherwise. 

 

“Oh good” Albus muttered, a smile lighting up his face as he caught sight of the Malfoys. 

 

Rose laughed again when she saw Scorpius’ matching smile when he set eyes on them.

 

“I feel like I haven’t seen you two in a million years” he beamed at them. 

 

“Morning Potters” Draco smiled politely, “Granger-Weasleys”. Maybe the mistakes of the past couldn’t be erased but the three families could be civil. Draco wasn’t nearly as bad as he used to be.

 

“Morning Draco” Harry replied.

 

Rose pulled Scorpius into a hug, knowing to get in first otherwise Albus would never let go of him. “I think you missed a few owls” Rose smirked, pulling away. “I seemed to only receive one every week from you whereas this one wrote me almost every day” she nudged Albus fondly.

 

“My dad and I were busy fixing up the Manor” Scorpius shrugged. “It needed some more colour”.

 

“You mean you needed to replace all the black with green?” Albus joked. He’d never been over to the Malfoy Manor but he’s always imagined it as a Gothic Castle that you saw in movies. 

 

Scorpius laughed and pulled his best friend into a hug. “I missed you immensely” he said.

 

“I missed you as well” Albus replied, clinging to Scorpius for a few moments longer than he probably should have. 

 

Rose rolled her eyes at the two of them.  _ One of these days,  _ she thought,  _ they’re going to realise that they belong together _ . 

 

“And of course I missed you, Rose” Scorpius beamed, pulling away from Albus somewhat reluctantly. “Who am I supposed to get book recommendations from if you’re not around?”.

 

“I’ll just give you a list of all the books I read over the summer” she shrugged. “Shouldn’t take you too long to finish that”.

 

“She read like fifty” Albus said. “Can you imagine?”.

 

“I read sixty I think” Scorpius shrugged casually. 

 

“You know, Albus, maybe I should give you list as well. Give you something productive to do for a change” Rose laughed.

 

He scowled at her. “Just because I’m not a massive nerd like the two of you doesn’t mean I’m unproductive” he crossed his arms. 

 

There was another call for students to board the train and the three looked around at each other. Scorpius moved, giving his dad a hug and saying goodbye before returning to the others. 

 

“Ready to go?” Ginny smiled at them all. 

 

They nodded. James had already went off with some of his friends and Lily was in the process of bolting across the platform to meet up with hers. Hugo gave one last wave and headed off.

 

“Oh” Albus muttered, turning to his best friend. “You have to remind me to write often”.

 

Scorpius looked over at the Potters, completely amused. “You’ll receive your first letter tomorrow” he said to them. 

 

“Thank you, Scorpius” Harry replied. “Now you three better head off before you miss the train”.

 

“Bye everyone” Albus called. 

 

Rose threw one arm around Albus’ shoulders and her other around Scorpius’ as the three of them walked towards the train. “Another year at Hogwarts with my boys” she joked.

 

“Only you would say something like that” Scorpius laughed. 

 

“How are we your boys?” Albus asked.

 

Rose rolled her eyes at them and Scorpius laughed again. The three of them jumped on the train as the final call was made, excited for the year ahead of them. 

 

…

 

The three of them sat in their own compartment. The trolley lady came and went and they didn’t purchase a thing. It was tradition for them to bring their own sweets as that’s how their friendship had begun back in their first year, with Scorpius offering them sweets. The three of them exchanged trading cards from chocolate frogs and passed around Pepper Imps. Rose and Scorpius swapped over a few books to last them the next few days. 

 

“I think you’ll really like this one” they said at the same time.

 

“You know, sometimes it’s hard to see how you two are different people” Albus smirked at them.

 

“We’re very different” Scorpius defended. “For example, I have blonde hair and Rose has brown hair”.

 

“I’m in Gryffindor and Scorpius is in Slytherin” Rose added.

 

“But we do have one thing in common”.

 

“We both put up with you” they said together.

 

Albus narrowed his eyes at the two of them. “I feel so attacked” he muttered.

 

Scorpius and Rose laughed at him as there was a knock on their compartment door. Rose opened it and recognised the girl on the other side. “Oh hey Alice” she smiled. “Guys this is Alessandra” she introduced. 

 

“But you can call me Alice if you like” she replied automatically. “Hi Scorpius” she added.

 

“Uh, hi” he replied with a small wave.

 

“Hi also” Albus smiled at her.

 

Her head snapped around as if she hadn’t even noticed he was there. “Oh, hi Albus” she replied, smiling politely. “Sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to talk to Rose for a second”.

 

“If either of you touch those sweets, you’re dead” Rose said before stepping outside with Alice. 

 

Albus looked over at his best friend who was gazing over the blurb of one of the books Rose had given him. “She’s an interesting one, isn’t she?” he asked.

 

“Hmm” Scorpius muttered. “Who is?”.

 

“Alice”.

 

“I don’t know anything about her. Just that she’s friends with Rose” he shrugged.

 

They sat in silence for a moment until the door slid open again and Rose returned. “Merlin’s beard, this is going to be quite the year” she said.

 

“How so?” Albus asked. He watched as Rose’s eyes flicked over her two friends as if deciding whether she should tell them something or not. 

 

“Just a little Gryffindor house drama” she shrugged.

 

Albus knew that there was definitely more to it than that but he wouldn’t push it. If Rose wanted to tell them then she would eventually. Until then he just hoped that there wasn’t something wrong. She didn’t seem scared or worried, just a little confused as if she was thinking something over until it made sense to her. She kept glancing over at Scorpius absently, who was completely oblivious since he’d started on one of the books she’d given him, and Albus was trying to figure out what that meant. 

 

….

 

The sorting ceremony was almost boring after you’d seen it a few times. Sure, it was still magical but unless you knew someone getting sorted at this stage it didn’t really bother you too much who ended up where. Slytherin gained a few more young recruits, bright eyed and eager to begin their magical education. Albus was impressed to overhear that a few of them were muggle born. Slytherin was definitely changing for the better and he hoped that it stayed that way. Seeing their eyes light up as the mass amounts of food appeared on the table reminded him of when he was only a first year as well. 

 

“Remember when we were first years?” Albus asked, picking at his food almost absently and looking over at his best friend. He caught Rose’s eye over at the Gryffindor table for a moment and poked his tongue out at her to make her laugh. It worked.

 

“Oh yes, because that was so long ago” Scorpius laughed. “Look at you getting all nostalgic”.

 

Albus shrugged. “I wanted to follow you, you know” he said, looking down at his plate again.

 

“Huh?”.

 

“Into Slytherin, I mean” he clarified. 

 

Scorpius looked over at his best friend, a warm feeling spreading over his chest. “You mean you went against everyone’s expectations of you just to be sorted into the same house as me?”.

 

Albus looked up at the beaming ray of sunshine next to him and shrugged again. “You were the first friend I made and I wanted to honor that” he said.

 

“Al, you have Rose and literally your entire family in Gryffindor. There’s no shortage of friends you could have made over there”.

 

“Yeah but I see them all the time. You’re much more exciting” he muttered.

 

“Why have you just told me this now? This is our fifth year” Scorpius laughed.

 

“You know I don’t have the best timing”.

 

“And you think  _ I’m _ the dork” Scorpius nudged him fondly.

 

“Oh, you definitely are” Albus confirmed. “A mere moment of dorkiness doesn’t overrule your entire being of dorkiness”. 

 

Scorpius rolled his eyes at him. “Would you like me to make a list of all your dorkish moments?” he asked. “There’s really no shortage of those either”.

 

“I think I’m good, thank you”.

 

The two boys looked at each other, beaming for a moment before bursting into laughter. A few of their fellow Slytherins looked over at them, rolling their eyes for the briefest moment. Not to be rude at all, just because they knew their laughing housemates, this was pretty common for them. 

 

“So do you think you’ll try out for quidditch this year?” Albus asked as he headed back towards the Slytherin dungeon with Scorpius. The two of them could hear their house prefect further along the corridor addressing the first years on their way to their dorms for the very first time.

 

Scorpius looked over at his best friend, puzzled. “You know I’m shit at quidditch” he said.

 

“That’s the joke” he smirked. 

 

“I’m glad you think that me publicly embarrassing myself would be funny”.

 

“Naw, you know I didn’t mean it like that”.

 

Scorpius shook his head, smiling. “You excited to be seeker again?”.

 

“If I get the position” he shrugged.

 

“You’ll get it. There’s no one that could be a better seeker than you” Scorpius nudged him. The two of them had caught up to the first years who were eagerly listening to the prefect as he explained the history of the Slytherin Dungeon to them. 

 

“I mean, I don’t want to say that you’re right even if you are. Have to give everyone else a fair go”.

 

“Your modesty is definitely your best trait” Scorpius smirked at him. 

 

The two of the burst into laughter once again, catching the attention of the first years in front of them. There was a spark of recognition in their eyes as they realised who they were looking at. 

 

“Wow” one of them said, bright brown eyes staring up at the two of them. “I can’t believe we’re really in the same house as Albus Potter”.

 

“I’ll send my father some gratitude for my existence” Albus replied sarcastically as the prefect called for the first year’s attention. 

 

Scorpius covered his mouth with his hand, trying to silence his laughter so the prefect didn’t give him any more dirty looks. He turned his head momentarily, resting it against Albus’ neck as if that would help. Albus bit down on his lip so that he wouldn’t laugh either, a hand automatically rubbing circles into Scorpius’ back.

 

“What will they think of you?” Scorpius smirked, pulling away again as the first years filed inside the Slytherin Dungeon quickly. 

 

“I don’t really care what they think to be quite frank” Albus shrugged. “I’ve already got you”.

 

“And Rose” Scorpius added.

 

“And Rose” he agreed.

 

“And your approximately two hundred siblings and cousins”.

 

“Them too”.

  
The two of them laughed again before heading into the common room. They were sure that their roommates would already be working on unpacking and managed to avoid the first years whose eyes were following the two of them as they walked passed them all and towards the dorms. 


	2. Right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I just wanted to thank you all for the all the positive responses I received on the last chapter. It was really nice of you guys to leave comments and everything, I really appreciate that. In saying that, I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much. Thank you if you're sticking with this :)

“It’s still our first week and I already have a potions essay to write, a presentation for muggle studies to do and a quiz for transfiguration” Rose was saying. She was walking through the grounds of Hogwarts with Albus on one side and Scorpius on the other. They were headed towards the lake because they all happened to have a free period at the same time and Albus suggested that being in the library this early in the term would just be upsetting. 

 

“I guess now I understand why James looked like he was half-dead for the majority of his fifth year” Albus replied.

 

“He did resemble Nearly Headless Nick a little didn’t he?” Rose laughed.

 

“I know I expected this year to be harder but not in the first week” Scorpius mused. “It seems cruel”.

 

“It is cruel” she confirmed.

 

“They need to make sure those little brains of yours are working as hard as possible” Albus smirked. “You know, since the two of you are the smartest in the year”.

 

“So they set up the curriculum solely to annoy us?” Rose asked, questioning his logic.

 

“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit, Al. You’re smart too” Scorpius defended.

 

“I think they just want to challenge us. I just hope that it doesn’t get harder from here” Albus shrugged.

 

“Oh it will” Rose said. “It’ll only get worse”.

 

“Very reassuring of you” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Maybe we should have headed to the library” Albus mused. “I probably need to get reacquainted with it”.

 

“Might as well move in there now” Rose laughed.

 

“As if you two don’t practically live there already”.

 

…..

 

Albus walked out on the quidditch pitch with the rest of his teammates from the year before that hadn’t graduated, and some new recruits hoping for a shot. Holding his broom in one hand he realised how much he’d missed it and that he probably should have practised a little more over the summer. He didn’t really play much more than a few pseudo-friendly games with his family at The Burrow. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too rusty. He looked up when he heard some cheering and recognised his two friends sitting in the partially empty Slytherin stands. There were a few other students gathered around, probably there to support their friends as well. He beamed up at Rose and Scorpius and gave them a confident thumbs up. Hopefully he didn’t fall off his broom or anything. That would be a little too embarrassing in front of his friends.

 

“And to your right you have the Albus Potter cheer squad out in full force” the Slytherin captain joked. He was a seventh year and was sadly aware that this would be his last time playing for his house. He was dedicated to making their team the best it could be because of that. He’d like to win the quidditch cup one last time, snatching it from Gryffindor for the first time in a few years. “The cousin and the boyfriend” he added.

 

“Scorpius isn’t my boyfriend” Albus replied easily.

 

“Really?” one of the beater’s asked. She was about an inch taller than Albus and was one of the best players they had. Albus was sure that she’d retain her place this year. 

 

“He’s just my best friend” he shrugged.

 

“If they were dating, we would know. I bet they wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off each other” a chaser said. 

 

“They sort of do that already”. 

 

Albus shrugged again, trying to be casual. The team was just joking around. They were all good people. He gazed up at the stands again. The sunlight was hitting Scorpius’ hair at just the right angle that it almost looked like it was glowing. He tried to not think about dating his best friend. That wouldn’t be something that ever happened. And plus, thinking about Scorpius would only be a distraction. He needed to be as focused as he could be on quidditch. 

 

….

 

“I think you’ll definitely make the team” Rose was saying as the three of them walked back to the castle. “I mean, there were some good alternatives but none of them were as good as you are at catching the snitch. And obviously you’ve helped them win quite a few games already which already puts you in a good position to be chosen. Plus, I really don’t want to be against anyone else”.

 

“The family rivalry is strong with this one” Scorpius joked. 

 

Albus laughed at that but his mind seemed to be somewhere else. He seemed to be still stuck on what his teammates were saying before try outs. And for some reason he found himself grateful that Rose always walked between the two of them. He didn’t want anyone to think he was dating his best friend. That would be weird. Right?

 

“Al, you’re being really quiet, are you ok?”.

 

Albus looked up at his cousin and smiled faintly. He hoped it didn’t look forced. “Yeah, I’m ok”. He noticed that Scorpius didn’t buy that at all. 

 

Rose nodded. She didn’t buy it either. 

 

….

 

“Al, you’ve barely spoken to me or to Rose for the rest of the day. Are you sure you’re ok? Did I do something wrong? Did something happen?” Scorpius asked. The two of them were on their way to the Slytherin Dungeon having parted with Rose. The corridors were pretty quiet as most of the other students would already be in their common rooms by now. 

 

“I’m fine” Albus shrugged. 

 

“Please don’t lie to me”. Scorpius stopped walking and Albus stopped as well. He gazed over at his best friend, worry clear in his eyes.

 

“Do you think it looks like we’re dating?” Albus asked. He wasn’t sure how to word the question, it sounded strange. He watched as Scorpius’ worry turned into confusion.

 

“What do you mean?” he asked.

 

“It’s just something the quidditch team was saying” Albus shrugged.

 

“Al, you know I don’t care about what people say about me -”.

 

“But does it look like it, Scorp?” Albus interrupted. “I mean, do you think it does?”.

 

Scorpius looked at his best friend intently for a moment, trying to assess what answer Albus needed him to give. Dating had never even been a question between the two of them. They’d always just been best friends. He wondered why the thought of being mistaken for that made Albus look so upset and wondered briefly if was because of what his last name associated him with. “Do you want me to distance myself from you a bit?” he asked. The words hurt him to say but if that’s what Albus needed he would try not to hesitate. 

 

Albus’ head snapped up again, a look of confusion clear on his face as if he hadn’t expected Scorpius to offer that. “No, not at all”.

 

“I don’t think it looks like we’re dating” he answered. 

 

“Ok”.

 

The two of them made the rest of the way back to the Slytherin Dungeon in silence. And they didn’t speak another word to each other for the rest of the night, both caught up in their own respective thoughts. 

 

…..

 

“Another potions essay. Can you believe that? It’s only been three weeks” Albus announced. A few passing students looked at him strangely. They seemed to be seconds years. Three years until they knew the struggle that he was being put through. Three years until they understood.

 

“Al, I was sitting next to you. I can definitely believe it” Scorpius smirked at his best friend. They were on their way to the library to meet up with Rose. She’d mentioned something about her friend Alice maybe tagging along but since Scorpius would be trying to focus on studying he didn’t really mind who else was there. He just liked being in the company of his friends. 

 

“I need to apologise to James. For mocking him his entire fifth year. I was so young and naive. I didn’t understand-”.

 

“A bit over dramatic don’t you think?”.

 

“I should chase him down later”.

 

Scorpius placed a hand on Albus’ shoulder forcing him to a stop. “If we’re swamped with work, James would be even more so. He’s in seventh year now, remember?”. He almost laughed at the look of horror that crossed his best friend’s face.

 

“You’re right” he said. “If we’re struggling now then imagine how much he is”.

 

“Al, you need to relax. You have a quidditch game in a few days. You’re not falling behind. You’ve actually managed to stay on top of things this time. You’re going to be fine”.

 

Albus took a deep breath, his hand curling around the one Scorpius still had on his shoulder for a second. “You’re always right” he said.

 

Scorpius beamed at that. Pulled his hand away from Albus’ slowly. “I thank you for your kind words”.

 

“Dork” Albus muttered as the two of them started walking again. He thought about the word ‘right’ for a moment. Scorpius’ hand on his shoulder had felt  _ right _ but what could that mean? Albus attributed it to the fact that they were best friends and tried to push any other connotations from his mind. He didn’t need any distractions. He had to study. 

 

The two of them made their way to the back of the library to the table that Rose always claimed as her own. It was away from the majority of the other tables and so was somewhat isolated and even though the library was quiet she preferred to be somewhat apart from her peers. It helped her focus. And made it less likely that she would hear pieces of conversation that she didn’t need to hear about. When you got to a certain stage in studying you were usually desperately looking for some kind of distraction and eavesdropping on others definitely counted as that. 

 

Albus and Scorpius took their seats across the table from Rose. She looked up and smiled at them as they did. Albus noticed that she was working on the potions essay he’d been complaining about moments before. Probably to try and get it out of the way first off. He looked over at Alice to see that her eyes weren’t moving from Scorpius. He wasn’t sure why that bothered him.

 

“Starting on the potions essay?” he asked Rose as he unpacked a few textbooks, some parchment, a quill and some ink. 

 

“This is the least of my worries at the moment” she sighed, looking down at the few lines she’d managed to write.

 

“Still a little worried about that presentation?” Scorpius asked, flipping through his potions textbook absently.

 

“Not really. I mean, I’m presenting tomorrow but I’ve already got that under control. I’ve got a whole load of other homework to work on. Including another essay for Care of Magical Creatures” she replied.

 

“This year is so cruel isn’t?” Albus asked. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Alice was still staring. He tried to push the thought from his mind. 

 

“Terribly so”.

 

“Al just went on a rant about how he needs to apologise to James for all the jokes that he made when he was in his fifth year” Scorpius smirked, nudging his friend fondly. “It was pretty dramatic, I think you would have been impressed”.

 

“Oh, I’m always impressed by Al” Rose laughed, rolling her eyes. 

 

Scorpius laughed at that as well and Albus wondered if he’d missed some kind of joke. 

 

“I can be impressive” Albus defended. By the way the two of them laughed even louder he thought that maybe he’d somehow made the joke funnier. The two of them were shushed by the librarian and apologised. 

 

“You always are” Scorpius replied quietly. It was completely genuine and Albus wondered why that made his heart somersault a little. 

 

“If you two are done distracting me I would like to go back to potions” Rose smiled at the two of them. There was something playing behind her eyes that Albus didn’t quite understand. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to.

 

Albus tried to focus but he was somehow distracted by the fact that Alice had taken to reading a few sentences, writing maybe two words and then gazing up at Scorpius again. He didn’t know why this distracted him. It definitely didn’t distract Scorpius who was as intent on doing his homework as ever. But somehow he found himself mildly angered by it and he had no idea why. Maybe he was angry because it was a distraction that he definitely didn’t need. What he needed was to work on his potions essay which currently stood at about two sentences long much to his displeasure. Albus always carried a little notepad with him incase he needed it for any reason. Mostly it was in case he needed to pass notes with anyone. So he wrote a little note to Rose and set it on her textbook quietly, careful not to distract anyone else. Not that Alice could be distracted at this point. Rose looked up at him, confused for a moment but picked up the notepad anyway. 

 

_ Your friend is staring _ . 

 

Rose smirked slightly, gazing up at Albus who was waiting for her reaction. She scribbled something back and then set it on the textbook that he was sadly avoiding. 

 

_ Are you jealous? _

 

Albus looked down at the note. Jealous? Why would he be jealous? Maybe that would describe the twinge of anger he felt towards the other girl who had done absolutely nothing wrong but he had no reason to be jealous. 

 

_ She’s breaking my focus. _

 

Rose covered her mouth as if to stop herself from laughing. Albus cocked his head to the side absently, trying to figure out what would give her that kind of reaction. He knew his cousin well but he couldn’t see inside her head and sometimes he was just lost. 

 

_ Surely the great Albus Potter isn’t distracted by a girl _ . 

 

It was a joke and Albus could hear the mocking tone even though she’d written and not said it. He rolled his eyes at the message. 

 

_ Do you know why she’s staring _ ?

 

Rose took a split second to respond to that before handing it back to him.

 

_ It’s probably because she finds him attractive _ .

 

Attractive? There was probably a lot of attractive people at Hogwarts, but she wasn’t staring at any of those. She was staring at Scorpius. Albus had never really considered what other people thought of his friend in a physical sense. Usually people avoided the two of them so it wasn’t like it was something that needed to be discussed. Albus glanced over at the boy next to him for a moment. Yes, he decided, Scorpius was attractive. Why did he feel like he’d known that all along? 

 

_ So? No one else looks at him like that. _

 

Rose shook her head at the message, smiling fondly. You look at him like that, she thought. Just more subtly. Her cousin was jealous and had never even experienced it before to realise that he was. 

 

“You know, Al, if you’re having trouble with the essay it’s probably because you’re reading from the wrong chapter in the textbook” Scorpius spoke, looking over at his friend’s mostly empty parchment. 

 

Albus looked over at Scorpius, locking eyes with him. Scorpius was more than attractive, he decided. Scorpius was stunning. Maybe he couldn’t really blame Alice after all for staring. “Thanks” he muttered and started flickering through the textbook to get on the right page. Albus looked up at Rose as his notepad appeared on top of his textbook but she was already focused on her essay again. 

 

_ Just try to ignore it, Al.  _

 

The problem was that even if he did manage to ignore it, he now had a different distraction to think about. And it was definitely the boy sitting next to him. 

  
  


…..

 

“You’ve been awfully quiet?” Scorpius observed as he walked back to the Slytherin Dungeon with Albus next to him. He’d barely spoken at all since they’d gotten to the library, seemingly lost in thought most of the time.

 

“I’m just thinking” Albus shrugged.  _ Not about you _ , he tried to lie to himself. 

 

“Going over that potions essay in your mind?” Scorpius smirked at him. 

 

Albus thought over the question for a moment, toying with the idea of it. He might as well ask. Maybe Scorpius would take it as a compliment. “Did you notice that Rose’s friend was staring at you in the library?” he asked. 

 

“You mean Alice?” Scorpius looked at him curiously.

 

“Yeah, Alice. She was staring at you”.

 

“At me?”.

 

Albus wasn’t sure why he was a little bit happy that Scorpius hadn’t even noticed. “Yeah”.

 

“Are you sure?”.

 

“It’s because you’re attractive” he said.

 

“What?” Scorpius muttered.

 

_ Shit _ . “I mean, it’s because she finds you attractive. She was probably staring because she finds you attractive”. Albus cursed at himself quietly because wow that was a close one. 

 

Scorpius laughed at that. “Are you sure she was staring at me and not you?” he asked.

 

“Why would she be staring at me?”.

 

He laughed again, somehow this it sounded more like embarrassed laughter. “It was a joke, Al. You know, for a second I thought you were flirting with me”. Maybe there was a part of him that wished that he was. 

 

“I wouldn’t even know how to do that” Albus muttered. Romance had never been something of interest to him. It wasn’t something that he’d ever really put thought into. So no, flirting had not been his intention. Had it?

 

“I know, that’s why I was so confused”.

 

Albus looked over at his beaming friend and wished desperately that he could talk to Rose about the way his heart was beating really fast because he was pretty sure that was definitely not supposed to happen. Definitely not when you were looking at your best friend. He didn’t want to panic but somehow couldn’t help himself. He shouldn’t be feeling this way. That much he was sure of. Rose would know what to do but he wouldn’t be able to see her until at least the next day. Albus wasn’t a big fan of waiting. And he didn’t even know what he would say to her. He was scared of what she would say. Of what all of it meant. 

 

Silence feel over the two of them as they walked the rest of the way back to the Slytherin Dungeon. It was a long walk from the library but the hallways were void of students considering how late it was. The only ones around at this time would be heading back to the library in the same way that they were anyway. Scorpius looked over at Albus, confused as to why he seemed to be so upset. Had he said something wrong? Maybe he shouldn’t have made the joke at all. He was most likely an idiot. He thought for a moment, if Alice had been staring at Albus instead and he’d noticed how would he have reacted? Maybe the same way. Scorpius thought over what he’d said again, about the statement that he’d passed off as a joke and what it truly meant to him. 

  
_ I was calling you attractive _ , Scorpius thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mutual pining is my undoing to be quite honest. What can I say? I love these two dorks.  
> If you would like to find me on tumblr I'm over at potter-awakening :)  
> Until next week, I hope you all enjoy your day/night!


	3. Sunlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Posting this has become my favourite part of the week. I'm always so excited to show you guys the next chapter. This chapter features some quidditch, a bit of fluff, some pining and Harry being a good dad. I hope you all enjoy it!

“Alright, Potter. This is the first quidditch game of the year. If you lose us this one I have half a mind to drop you from the team” the Slytherin quidditch captain was saying as the team made their way towards the quidditch pitch. 

 

“Good luck finding another seeker half as good as me” Albus beamed at him.

 

“Careful there, Potter. People will think you’re cocky”.

 

The two of them laughed as they walked out onto the pitch. Being the first game of the year it seemed that everyone had turned up, all the stands for all of the houses were completely full. Albus glanced up at the Slytherin stands and saw his two friends cheering loudly. The sunlight was at just the right angle again that Scorpius was glowing. Between that and the red of Rose’s robes the two were easy to spot. He waved to them happily. Next he glanced over to the Gryffindor stands and saw James, Hugo and Lily standing together and cheering him on. Lily was holding a little flag that she’d enchanted to change to the house colours of the team she was cheering for. At the moment, the flag was Slytherin green. Albus waved to them as well, beaming. He was so grateful that his family supported him no matter what house he was in. They were always supporting him. It was interesting when Slytherin played Gryffindor. During those games Lily’s flag switched between red and green, because even though she wanted to support her house she also needed to support her family. And if one of them was a Slytherin then so be it. Albus felt incredibly loved in that moment and if there was anything his parents had taught him it was that love could win over everything. Including a game of quidditch. 

 

“Ready, Potter?”.

 

“Of course” Albus smiled. 

 

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the game began. Slytherin took an early lead over Ravenclaw. You could tell that their team had been practicing a lot over the summer and Albus hoped that he wouldn’t let them down just because he hadn’t done as much. Regardless of the early lead Ravenclaw were fighting back as hard as they could and for a while it looked like their comeback would overtake Slytherin, but Slytherin managed to stay in the lead for the majority of the game so far. If only by a few points at a time. It seemed that the only way to obtain a win would be for someone to catch the snitch. Albus was waiting eyes flicking around the quidditch pitch in search of a flash of gold for him to chase. It was taking quite a while to appear and he wondered if it somehow knew that it was the first game of the year. As if the snitch wanted the game to on as long as possible. Almost like a test. 

 

Albus tried to keep himself focused. He was letting himself run entirely on adrenaline as he waited for the snitch to appear. It didn’t help that he kept catching sight of Scorpius’ hair out of the corner of his eye. The boy was so distracting that Albus sometimes found himself thinking about his best friend instead of the quidditch game itself. He had to catch himself before he let those kinds of thoughts take over. He needed to win them the game. If he didn’t catch the snitch Slytherin would lose and he wouldn’t allow himself to be responsible. Just as he thought that he saw a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye. He started flying towards it. He could see the Ravenclaw seeker next to him, doing the same. 

 

“You’re going to lose, Potter” she called to him.

 

“You wish!”. Albus surged forward. He could hear the crowd cheering louder than they had throughout the whole game. He ducked, managing to avoid a bludger as it flew passed him. Pushing himself flat against his broom Albus surged forward again. His eye caught a flash of blonde as he flew passed the Slytherin stands and he beamed, reaching towards the snitch. The Ravenclaw seeker caught up to him, almost bumping into him. Albus wondered for a second if that was on purpose. Not all Ravenclaws were nice, and not all of them liked him. He tried to ignore it and focus on the snitch in front of him but she bumped into him again, and this time he knew it was on purpose. There was a yell as Albus almost lost his balance on his broom. 

 

“Watch it!” he said to her.

 

She just sneered at him in response. 

 

The snitch flew downwards, towards the pitch itself and the two seekers followed it. Albus focused his eyes solely on the gold ball in front of him. He tried to tune out everything else and focus only on that. He tuned out the cheering crowd, he tuned out his teammates and the Ravenclaw players who were still playing above him. He even managed to tune out the seeker next to him. Albus reached a hand out towards the snitch. He was almost able to reach it. He could practically feel the ball in his hand if he just managed to reach a little further he would have it. Albus felt something push against him and suddenly he was toppling forward off his broom and straight into the quidditch pitch. The next thing he felt was the ground as he hit it.

 

“Albus!”. Rose grabbed Scorpius’ wrist and started pulling him towards the stairs, determined to get to her cousin and see if he was ok. The Ravenclaw seeker was going to get in an awful lot of trouble for that because it obviously wasn’t an accident. 

 

Albus coughed. He didn’t think he’d be able to move. He registered that he was in pain and that was about it. He shifted his hand, a flash of gold becoming clear to those in the stands.

 

“Albus Potter has caught the snitch! Slytherin Wins!”.

 

The crowd cheered as a flurry of movement played out on the field. The Slytherin team rushed towards Albus as did Madam Hooch. Professor McGonagall made her way onto the field and removed the Ravenclaw seeker from the pitch. Even though she had no control over Slytherin house she’d always kept an eye on Albus. He was a Potter after all. Madam Hooch asked the Slytherin team to move back and give Albus some space. He managed to roll himself over but that was about it. Rose and Scorpius rushed up to him and he beamed when he saw the two of them

 

“Alright Potter?” Madam Hooch asked, giving him a quick once over to see if there was anything that needed immediate attention. She remembered asking his father the same question after he fell off his broom in his first quidditch game. 

 

“I’m fine” Albus muttered, his voice rough.

 

Scorpius and Rose dropped down next to him. Madam Hooch let them because they were family (at least one of them was).

 

“Scorpius!” he said, grabbing onto his friend’s arm. “I have to tell you something”.

 

“I think it can wait, Al. You hit your head”.

 

“No, no it’s really important” Albus replied. He looked at Scorpius for a moment, trying to recall what he had to say. “I can’t remember” he muttered finally, downtrodden.

 

“It’s ok. You can tell me later” Scorpius smiled. He was completely worried and Albus didn’t look so good. 

 

Professor McGonagall returned, ushering the rest of the Slytherin team off the field. The captain picked up Albus’ broom on his way out as well. 

 

“No no, give me a minute I want to remember”.

 

“Al, we need to get you to the infirmary” Rose said gently before glancing up at McGonagall who looked just the right amount of worried and angry. 

 

“Just a minute” Albus muttered, wracking his brain. It had been important. He had to tell Scorpius now or he’d forget it. 

 

“Al-”.

 

“Your hair!” Albus exclaimed. He tightened his grip on Scorpius’ arm. 

 

“What about my hair?” Scorpius muttered, confused. Albus must have hit his head harder than he’d thought.

 

“Albus -”.

 

“No, Rose, Rose. I can remember just let me tell him, please” Albus looked over at his cousin. 

 

Rose nodded silently, seeing the desperation in his eyes. She too wondered how hard he’d hit his head. 

 

“Your hair” Albus muttered, turning back to Scorpius. He slid his hand down his friend’s arm until he was holding onto Scorpius’ wrist. “In the sunlight” he paused, coughing and trying not to look disgusted when some grass made its way out of his lungs. “Your hair, in the sunlight. It glows” he rushed. “Scorp, you’re beautiful”.

 

“Al, I think you must have hit your head pretty hard” Scorpius muttered, trying to ignore the sound of Rose giggling next to him.

 

“No, I mean that”.

 

Scorpius smiled faintly and looked down at Albus’ hand that was still clutching his wrist. He wanted to believe that but Albus most likely had a concussion and probably wouldn’t even remember that he’d said that. Either way there was a little warm fuzzy feeling in his chest beside all the worry and panic he was experiencing. 

 

“Ok, Potter” McGonagall said, “no more stalling. To the infirmary with you”. 

 

Albus nodded, accepting his fate. He let go of Scorpius’ wrist somewhat reluctantly. 

 

“Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger-Weasley. You can accompany him. I have to have a word with Professor Flitwick” she continued before leaving the pitch herself. 

 

“Do you think you can stand, Potter?” Madam Hooch asked. 

 

Albus nodded slowly. “I think so”.

 

Rose and Scorpius stood. Scorpius helped Albus to his feet slowly, wrapping one of Albus’ arms around his shoulders. He stumbled but Scorpius managed to catch him. The result being that they were incredibly close to each other. Scorpius swallowed and helped steady him as Rose wrapped Albus’ other arm around around her shoulders.  _ You’re beautiful too,  _ he thought. 

 

“I think we can take it from here, Madam Hooch” Rose said. She looked more than determined. 

 

It took them a while but the two of the them managed to make it all the way to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey was already waiting for them, having been notified by Professor McGonagall. She told the two of them that they could stay as she checked over Albus, tutting quietly to herself at his injuries. 

 

“He’ll be ok, won’t he?” Rose asked politely, worry lacing her tone.

 

Madam Pomfrey nodded, a grim smile on her face. “It’ll take a few days for him to recover but he’ll be ok” she reassured. 

 

“Oh good” Rose smiled.

 

Madam Pomfrey walked away, in search of another medicine and Rose and Scorpius pulled up two chairs next to Albus’ bed. She’d given him something to get him to sleep, since that would be the easiest way for the medicine to start healing him. Scorpius looked down at his best friend. He was more than worried. And a part of him was very very angry but he knew better than to chase after the Ravenclaw seeker. She’d be in enough trouble as it was. It was a shame that not all Ravenclaws were nice people. 

 

“Do you think he meant it?” Scorpius asked. A silence had fallen between him and Rose as the two of them watched over Albus.

 

“You’re not unattractive, Scorp” she replied.

 

“But do you think he really meant it?” he looked over at her. 

 

Rose looked up at her friend. There was something playing behind his eyes that she thought she could maybe identify.  _ Finally _ , she thought. “I think he really did” she said, “Whether he’ll remember it or not, I can’t be sure of”.

 

Scorpius nodded, looking down at Albus again. His chest felt tight and it was making breathing just slightly difficult. 

 

“You need to relax” Rose muttered, as if she could sense his discomfort, “He’ll be ok in a few days. Just keep a list of all the work he’ll have to catch up on”.

 

Scorpius smirked faintly, “Oh, he’s going to love that”.

 

…..

 

Albus had a lot of visitors over the next few days. Besides Rose and Scorpius he had the rest of his family visit him. James, Lily and Hugo dropped by a few times and Hugo even brought him some sweets from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes which he was more than grateful for. The Slytherin quidditch team came up to check up on him and thank him for catching the snitch, since they wouldn’t have been able to win without him. Even the Ravenclaw quidditch team came to visit, to apologise from their team member’s behaviour. They assured him that they had nothing to do with what happened and that their seeker had been kicked off the team. Since the season had already started they already knew where to start as they looked for a new one. Somehow that didn’t make Albus feel any better but he was grateful to them. Sometimes Professor McGonagall would pop by and check on him. She’d say that she used to do the same for his father, and even his grandfather and so she’d been keeping an eye on the Potter’s for three generations. He was grateful for her as well. Even though he wasn’t in Gryffindor she was still on his side and he couldn’t thank her enough for that. The strangest visit though had to be his father. On his very last day in the infirmary he was surprised to see Harry Potter walk through the double doors and over to his bed side. 

 

“I would have come earlier but there was an emergency at the Ministry” Harry said, taking a seat next to his son. His hair was windswept, somehow making it even messier than usual and he pushed his glasses further up his nose as he sat. He definitely looked as if he’d rushed over as quickly as he could.

 

“An emergency?” Albus asked.

 

“A small emergency” Harry said dismissively, “not nearly as important as this but they wouldn’t let me leave”.

 

Albus smiled up at his father. He was a little confused as to why he was there but at the same time it was nice to see him. “I know I haven’t been writing as often as I said I would. We’ve been flogged with homework all term” Albus replied.

 

Harry smiled at that, “Fifth year is a little rough, isn’t it?’.

 

“Can’t be nearly as rough as yours was” he muttered.

 

“Al, everything that I went through. That your mother and your Aunt Hermione and your Uncle Ron went through was so that you wouldn’t have to”.

 

Albus looked up at his father. He’d heard the sincerity in his voice and he could see it reflected in his eyes as well, “I guess I always sort of knew that”.

 

“It was difficult” Harry said. “I’ll never deny that and I’ve had quite the time recovering from it as you know, but watching you and your brother and sister. And your cousins, makes it all worth it”.

 

“Even the PTSD?”.

 

“Even the PTSD” Harry agreed. He’d do it all again if it meant that his children were safe. 

 

“Very noble of you” Albus smirked.

 

Harry laughed at that, “It’s good to see that even a concussion can’t change you”.

 

“Madam Pomfrey said my concussion is pretty much gone” he replied.

 

“You’re recovering well then?” Harry asked, shifting back into dad mode.

 

“I am” Albus confirmed. He hesitated for a moment. He didn’t get much time with his father like this unless it was summer. He wasn’t sure if he could take advantage of it or not. “Dad?” Albus muttered, “can I talk to you about something?”.

 

“Of course you can”.

 

“It’s about” Albus swallowed, considering his words, “boys”.

 

Harry didn’t even seemed surprised at that. As if he was somehow expecting it would come up eventually if not right now. “Is this about Scorpius?” he asked calmly. 

 

Albus tried to swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat once again. He knew his father wouldn’t care who he was interested in, if anyone at all, but sometimes he forgot how well his father knew him. “Yeah” he answered, somewhat sheepishly.

 

“Is everything ok?” Harry asked, worry making its way into his expression.

 

“Yeah everything’s fine. I don’t know if it’s a long story or not but if you have to go home or anything that’s ok” Albus rushed.

 

Harry smiled at that. “I’ve got time” he reassured.

 

“Ok” Albus nodded, trying to string the words together so that they would make sense. “Rose has a friend that has some kind of crush on him and I guess I should have realised then that I was a little jealous but Scorpius didn’t really give her any kind of attention anyway but she was just staring and it was annoying and I just-”.

 

“Albus, I think it would be best if you slow down”.

 

He nodded again, “When I fell off my broom I hit my head and I don’t remember much but I think I might have told Scorpius that I think he’s beautiful. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think I like my best friend as more than as a best friend”.

 

“And you’re not quite sure what to do with that information?” Harry asked.

 

“Basically”.

 

Harry shifted in his chair, leaning forward and resting his elbows against his knees. “Your Aunt Hermione might be better at giving this kind of advice since that’s also what happened to her and your Uncle Ron but I think what you should do is tell him how you feel”. 

 

“So I just … tell him?” Albus asked. “What if he doesn’t like me like that?”.

 

“I don’t think that’ll be an issue” Harry smiled.

 

“But what about Alice? She has a crush on him. What if she asks him out? What if he says yes?” Albus questioned, panic seemed to be rising in his chest at just the thought of seeing Scorpius with someone else. 

 

“You just have to let him know how you feel before that happens”.

 

Albus took a deep breath and thought that over. Just the idea of it was terrifying. “I don’t know if I can do that” he admitted. 

 

“You can take your time”.

 

“What happened with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione?” Albus asked. 

 

“Well, your Aunt Hermione wasn’t his first girlfriend” Harry replied.

 

“I think that makes me feel a little better” he muttered. 

 

“I’m glad. Now you rest up and owl me and your mother when you get back into your classes” Harry stood up, leaning over to give Albus a hug before making his way to the door. 

 

“I need to talk to Rose” Albus muttered into the silence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I refuse to believe that Harry James Potter wouldn't be the best dad to ever dad and thus this chapter is a little ode to that. Also, the 'Albus injures himself in quidditch' cliche is featured in this, I hope that wasn't too cringey for anyone. Apologies to the entirety of Ravenclaw house, what happens with your seeker in this is a scattered incident and in no way reflects the house as a whole.
> 
> Thank you guys for sticking with this and being so lovely! I'll see you all next week :)


	4. Proposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a day early because yesterday I finished this fic in its entirety and I'm feeling incredibly happy about that. Don't worry, I'll still be updating this weekly. This chapter features some quidditch, some wonderful Rose & James interaction, and the start of something you've all been waiting for.

Albus was thrown back into his classes a day before Rose’s first quidditch match of the year - Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. On one hand, he was grateful that his friends had kept a list of all the work he had to catch up on. On the other, he had to actually catch up on it. And because of that he found himself in the library sitting across from Scorpius since Rose was at quidditch practice for the afternoon in preparation for the game. He had his work spread around him, three textbooks opened to various pages and taking up the majority of their table. There was a small pile of parchment waiting to be filled with some spare ink stacked next to it just in case. This wasn’t the ideal way to spend the afternoon but this is what happens when you suffer a concussion that pulls you out of class for a few days. Scorpius had a few books from Rose’s growing collection stacked up on his side of the table. He was reading one quietly and Albus was trying his best not to get distracted by him because that would truly only makes things worse for himself.

 

Scorpius looked up briefly as his best friend desperately skimmed through a chapter in one of the textbooks in front of him. It was probably wrong to think that someone was cute while they were stressed but he really couldn’t help himself. Albus ran his hands through his hair often when he was stressed, it was mostly out of frustration but the effect was that he was somehow even messier than it usually was. Scorpius found it incredibly endearing for reasons he didn’t even want to think about. He didn’t even want to think about the fact that he was gazing over at his best friend and thinking about how cute he was. If the snitch had flown upwards instead of towards the ground and Albus had still fallen he probably wouldn’t be very alive right now. Maybe that was why Scorpius couldn’t stop thinking about him. He’d almost lost his best friend. He watched as Albus scrunched up another piece of parchment. He kept forgetting to lift his quill while skimming for information which meant that an inkblot would pool on his page. Scorpius tried not to laugh but somehow he couldn’t stop himself. 

 

“I’m glad you find this funny” Albus muttered, already pulling a new piece of parchment towards him. This was the third time he’d had to restart the same essay. 

 

“I’m sorry” Scorpius smirked at him, “I just can’t believe that’s the third time”.

 

“Maybe next time I’ll throw the parchment at you instead”.

 

“Alright. I’ll just read then and not bother you at all” Scorpius looked back down at his book, finding where he was up to on the page. 

 

“It doesn’t really take much to bother me anymore” Albus said under his breath.

 

“Did you say something?” Scorpius looked up again.

 

Albus shook his head. Maybe trying to study with Scorpius around was a mistake, but he enjoyed his friend’s company too much. And if Scorpius wasn’t with him then he’d be alone in the library and he could never find himself able to focus when he was alone. He looked back down at the one of the textbooks in front of him, skimming the page for the answers he needed. “You know, Scorp I really am having trouble with this” he said.

 

“Probably because it’s the wrong textbook” he smirked.

 

“And you’ve waited until now to tell me!?”.

 

....

 

If there was one thing Rose knew for certain it was that she’d missed quidditch during the summer. Even though she’d played a few times with her family it wasn’t nearly the same as being on the quidditch pitch with the Gryffindor team. There were a lot of things she’d been worrying about lately, and her cousin being knocked off his broom didn’t really help at all. She knew the teachers were on high alert this time in case anything happened but the likelihood of the Hufflepuff seeker trying to knock her off her broom was definitely less than zero. And she wouldn’t pull something like that either. What happened to Albus was an oddity and it was just unfortunate that it had happened to him at all. 

 

Rose looked around her at her beaming teammates. She could feel the adrenaline and excitement pumping through her as she pushed all her worries aside so she could focus on one thing throughout the game: catching the snitch. She was as determined as ever. She wanted to make her house proud. And if she caught the snitch and they won the game then they’d be against Slytherin in the next game, and she wanted to give Albus a run for his money. The crowd cheered as they walked onto the pitch. She looked over to the Gryffindor stands and saw two figures of green stand out against all the red. Whenever Gryffindor played, Albus and Scorpius often went to stand with her family instead of with their house. They’d discovered that cheering for Gryffindor while surrounded by other Slytherins probably wasn’t the wisest decision and most Gryffindors didn’t really care if they were there or not, too focused on the game at hand anyway. Rose beamed at the five of them. Lily’s flag was bright red this time, blending in with everything else in the Gryffindor stands. Rose found herself to be immensely happy and knew that with support like that she’d definitely win them the game. 

 

Madam Hooch looked over both teams almost suspiciously, as if looking for some kind of indication that something could go wrong this game. The results of the last game had made her a little uneasy. She really should have noticed what was happening before Albus Potter was launched off his broom but she couldn’t see everything happening at once. There was a lot of action on the quidditch pitch. Satisfied that everyone looked the right amount of determined and elated she blew her whistle, signalling the start of the game. 

 

Hufflepuff took the early lead this time, much to their house’s excitement. The Hufflepuff team had never been weak, they got stronger every year and they even managed to win a fair share of games. Even though the finals often came down to Gryffindor and Slytherin it seemed that they were dedicated to giving the season everything they had. Rose thought that maybe their new captain was a good fit for them. She’d obviously been working her team hard. It was clear that with each team playing at their best this would be a very tight match, even closer than the last one. Rose scanned the pitch, constantly on the lookout for a particular flash of gold. She could hear the crowd cheering every time one of the teams scored but she knew that when the snitch was spotted the cheering would be paramount. 

 

Albus’ eyes switched between his cousin and the rest of the game. He was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the snitch. He knew how much Rose had been practicing and was more than excited to see how she fared against the Hufflepuff seeker. The Hufflepuff seeker had been a new recruit for the team this year, since their previous seeker had graduated last year. Everyone was excited to see how she played since a few select Hufflepuffs had been bragging about her out of pure excitement. Rose was a fantastic seeker, but no one had seen the Hufflepuff seeker play except for her house. She could be just as fantastic, proving a good match between the two of them. Albus saw the flash of gold out of the corner of his eye, seemingly spotting it a split second before the seekers did.

 

“The snitch” he muttered, eyes moving from the game to watch Rose. The crowd was cheering loudly around them. He leaned forwards against the railing in anticipation.

 

“And the snitch enters the field!” the announcer called. 

 

“No wonder you’re such a good seeker” Scorpius laughed.

 

Albus looked up at his best friend. The sunlight was at the right angle again and he was trying to convince himself that it was some kind of torture purely made for him. “What do you mean?”.

 

“You saw it even before Rose did. You’ve got quite the eye for gold, don’t you?” he smirked.

 

_ Gold _ , Albus thought. He gave his best friend a sly once over. Gold was definitely what was standing next to him. Albus shrugged casually. “Maybe if you read less your eyesight would be a little better” he teased.

 

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at him, a smile still on his face. “Maybe if you read more it wouldn’t have taken you almost five hours to write that essay yesterday” he replied. 

 

“Touche”. 

 

“She almost has it!” Lily yelled next to him. 

 

Albus and Scorpius’ eyes snapped back to the game. They watched as Rose sped towards the snitch. It was right in front of her now. The Hufflepuff seeker was right there with her. It would definitely be close. Albus didn’t even notice when his hand clasped around Scorpius’ wrist in anticipation. Scorpius looked over at his best friend, his eyes were focused entirely on the two seekers on the field. He looked down at their two hands and found that there was strange feeling in his chest. Something warm and fuzzy again. He didn’t want to think what that meant. 

 

“Yes!” Albus yelled, his hand pulling away from Scorpius as quickly as it was placed there. 

 

Scorpius looked up and saw the wings of the snitch still in Rose’s hand. He’d missed her catching it. 

 

“Rose Granger-Weasley has caught to snitch! Gryffindor wins!”.

 

The cheering from the Gryffindor stands increased ten fold. It was a deafening amount of excitement from all around him. Scorpius watched as Rose’s teammates enveloped her in a massive group hug once she landed and laughed. 

 

Albus looked over at him and the two locked eyes for a moment. Albus was beaming, his eyes brighter than he’d seen them in a while and his hair was as messy as ever. Albus was beautiful, he decided. That much was true. Scorpius looked back at the quidditch pitch to see the Hufflepuff seeker, smiling even with the loss, shake Rose’s hand politely. 

 

…

 

“Rose you were absolutely incredible. I mean, the Hufflepuff seeker was right there with you the entire time. It could have definitely gone either way” Albus was saying. The three of them were making their way to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade for a congratulatory butterbeer. Even though Albus was usually the calmer one, quidditch riled him up into an excited puppy. Scorpius found himself mesmerized by just how  _ adorable _ he was. It was definitely another thing he was going to have to avoid thinking too far into. 

 

“She was honestly the nicest person” Rose replied. “I mean, even after losing she was so lovely and congratulated me and shook my hand. She even seemed happy that I won”.

 

“Hufflepuff’s living up to their name” Scorpius laughed. 

 

“They’re all so lovely that sometimes I feel a little bad if we win”.

 

“It’s a little bit like that isn’t it” Scorpius said, “It’s almost like you want them to beat you just so they can be excited over it”.

 

“I feel like they’re very underestimated. The game definitely could have gone either way. They’ve more than stepped up to the plate this season” Rose smiled. 

 

“It’ll be interesting when they play Ravenclaw next” Albus said. “As much as I know it wasn’t their team’s fault that I fell off my broom and everything I kind of want Hufflepuff to destroy them”.

 

The three of them laughed. The bell on the door of Honeydukes rang and a group of over excited Gryffindors exited. Once they saw Rose they rushed over to her, all talking at once about how amazing she was during the game. Alice was with them. She blushed when she saw Scorpius but followed her friends to congratulate Rose. Albus considered taking a side step closer to Scorpius but realised quickly just how silly that thought was. Scorpius wasn’t  _ his _ , and even though he’d been thinking about that concept a little too much lately it would be stupid to act as if it were true.

 

“Rose, you were amazing!”.

 

“The Hufflepuff seeker was so good but you showed her!”.

 

“I think I definitely shed a tear or two when you caught the snitch!”.

 

Rose laughed, looking around at her friends. She had her two best friends, Albus and Scorpius but within Gryffindor she had a whole lot of people that liked her. Some of them she was close to but a lot of them were closer to acquaintance-friends if anything. The group in front of her was a mix. “Thank you” she smiled at them all, “I’m just really happy that we won”.

 

A few of the Gryffindors followed them into The Three Broomsticks and sat with them. Albus and Scorpius agreed solely because of how happy Rose looked at the prospect of having more of her friends with them. There was seven of them now: Rose, Albus, Scorpius, Alice, two more Gryffindor girls and a Gryffindor boy had joined them. Rose was talking to them all. It was mostly about the game but sometimes it was about classes. Alice wasn’t staring as much as she was in the library but her eyes kept flicking over to Scorpius every few minutes. Scorpius found himself moving closer to Albus in retaliation as if that would somehow make her stop. It didn’t but it brought him closer to his best friend and for reasons he still didn’t want to think about that was something that had crossed his mind more than once lately. Sure, Alice seemed nice enough but Scorpius wasn’t really interested, and that put him in a slightly awkward position. 

 

“You ok?” Albus asked, looking up as Scorpius shifted closer to him. His heart started beating faster because there was only about two inches between them now and Albus found himself incredibly happy with that. 

 

“The staring is a little creepy when you’re aware of it” he replied, grateful that the Gryffindors were talking loudly enough to drown out his voice. 

“Told you” Albus smirked, “It’s not nearly as bad as last time”.

 

“That really doesn’t make me feel any better”.

 

Albus looked over at his best friend. He definitely looked uncomfortable. He was sitting up straighter than usual and had his hands wrapped rather tightly around his butterbeer so much so that he could possibly break the glass if he squeezed any harder. “We can leave if you want?” he offered.

 

Scorpius looked like he was genuinely considering it for a moment but then he glanced over at Rose and realised that they should probably stay. They were there to congratulate her anyway. “I’m ok” he replied.

 

Albus nodded, confused as to why there was a little part of him that was seemingly upset. He looked over at his cousin, listening again as she recalled how nice the Hufflepuff seeker was. He smirked and leaned over towards Scorpius. “Thoughts on Rose and the Hufflepuff seeker?” he asked sheepishly. 

 

Scorpius matched his smirk. “A wonderful pairing” he replied.

 

Albus laughed. He guessed it made him happy that he wasn’t the only one in their trio that seemed to have a crush. Maybe admitting that he had a crush on Scorpius, even just to himself would explain what he’d been feeling of late. Not that anything would come of it, but as he gazed over at his best friend at the same time that Alice did he found himself hoping that maybe someday it would. 

 

….

 

Rose Granger-Weasley was in an incredibly awkward position. Somehow she’s found herself on the outside of some sort of strange love triangle. That was something that she’d never really anticipated having to deal with and yet here she was, caught in the middle. She spent a few hours at The Three Broomsticks with her friends. Their conversation covered a variety of topics including the quidditch game and the prospects of the Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw game in a few weeks, to classes and homework, to Halloween which was steadily approaching. There’d been some word about maybe trick or treating in Hogsmeade or another surrounding village which intrigued her just a little bit. When they realised it was starting to get late they decided that they better head back to Hogwarts before any of the teachers noticed that they’d been gone for quite a long time. 

 

Fortunately it never took long to travel from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts and soon she was parting ways with Albus and Scorpius as they headed off to the Slytherin dorm. The rest of them had to traverse the endless staircases to the Gryffindor Tower and maybe she was a little bit jealous of them in the moment. It was then that she noticed that something strange was unfolding. She’d seen that Alice had a crush on Scorpius, the poor thing didn’t even try to be subtle. The issue was that Albus also had a crush on Scorpius, one that was even just partially returned. Not that the two would ever admit their feelings for one another. Three of her friends were in front of them, talking more about quidditch but she and Alice trailed behind them. Whenever Rose looked over at Alice she saw the other girl chewing on her lip, as if deciding whether she should tell Rose something or not.  _ Oh no _ , she thought. 

 

“Rose?” Alice asked. She was a sweet girl, really. She was nice person and Rose couldn’t entirely blame her from having a crush on Scorpius, the boy didn’t make it very hard. But the poor thing had trapped herself in the middle of something she didn’t really understand. Scorpius probably wouldn’t date her, and even if he did it probably wouldn’t last very long. Rose almost felt a little guilty thinking that but it was definitely the facts of the situation. 

 

“Yeah?” Rose turned to her. Her three other friends were laughing amongst themselves and she sort of wished that she was walking with them instead. 

 

“Can I ask you something?”.

 

“Of course you can” Rose tried to smile and hoped that it came out genuine. She wasn’t really sure how she was going to handle this, but she had to try. Alice deserved that much.

 

“Do you think Scorpius likes me?” Alice muttered.

 

_ He’s barely spoken to you _ , Rose thought. “I don’t think he knows you well enough yet to have an opinion. I think he just thinks you’re nice” she said.

 

“Nice is good” Alice mused. “Do you think I should try to spend more time with him?”.

 

Rose really didn’t know what to say. She could say yes but then Scorpius would be the uncomfortable one and she didn’t want to put her friend through that. She didn’t even want to put Alice through that either. She had to be very careful with her words. “You like him a lot don’t you?” she asked.

 

Alice blushed and looked away. “Um” she muttered, “Yeah, a little”.

 

_ Great _ . “Do you want me to ask him if he thinks of you in any particular way?” Rose asked. “You know, to see if he’s interested. That way if you want to spend more time with him, even in a group setting, you’d know how to act?”. A group setting because she didn’t think it would go too well if they were alone. Alice probably wouldn’t be able to talk to Scorpius and he wasn’t really good at talking to girls anyway. She herself was an extraordinary exception to that. 

 

“You’d really do that?”.

 

Rose looked over at her beaming friend and felt entirely guilty. She had no idea how she was going to handle this at all. “Of course” she smiled.

 

“Oh Rose, thank you so so much!”.

 

“I’ll see if I can bring you to more gatherings. That way at least he’ll see you more often, you know?”.

 

Rose listened as Alice chattered excitedly about the prospect of that and about Scorpius in general. She really didn’t blame her, Scorpius was a likeable human being once people started seeing him as who he was and not who he his father was. Or what his father had been known for. The problem was that Rose knew how her cousin felt about their friend. She saw how he looked at Scorpius and she’d seen how that had grown over the years since the three of them had met. Rose wished briefly that she could talk to her mother but this would be far too difficult to write in a letter at the moment. Maybe in the morning when she was a little more clear headed. As she entered the Gryffindor Tower and saw a messy haired figure in the corner, leaning over a game of wizard chess she realised that she at least had someone she could talk to for the moment. Until she figured out how to write that letter, at least. 

 

“Alice, I have some things to handle before bed so I’ll see you later, ok?” Rose said.

 

“Of course! I think I’ll be heading up to bed soon anyway” Alice smiled at her. 

 

“Goodnight”.

 

“Goodnight”.

 

Rose made her way over to the group of boys. Her father had taught her, her brother and her cousins how to play wizard chess when they were younger. Her mother hadn’t really approved since it brought up some awful memories of their first year at Hogwarts but Ron had insisted because “children who can’t play wizard chess can’t survive in the world, Hermione”. Hermione had just rolled her eyes at him at the time, smiling. James had taken to the game straight away. Maybe it was a male thing because Rose found it as barbaric as her mother did. 

 

“Sorry to interrupt” she said as four pairs of eyes looked up at her. “James, I’d like to talk to you for a minute”.

 

“Talk away, Rosey” he smiled.

 

“In private” she muttered.

 

Something flashed in James’ eyes for a moment and he beamed at her. “Excuse me, friends” he said dramatically. “My intense knowledge of the world must be passed on the next generation”.

“James, we’re from the same generation”.

 

“Shhh, they don’t know that” he whispered to her. 

 

James’ friends laughed at his silliness but let him go. He followed Rose all the way out of the Gryffindor Tower and out into the corridor. 

 

“You know, I  _ was _ enjoying the warm atmosphere and the company of my fellow housemates” he teased. 

 

Rose looked around her, as if to check that no one else was around but the corridor and the staircase was deserted. “I have a dilemma” she said.

 

“Is this about the Hufflepuff seeker because I can tell you that you have come to the right place-”.

 

“It’s not about the Hufflepuff seeker” Rose interrupted. “I don’t really have the time to think about her at the moment”.

 

“When you have the time you know where to find me” he joked. “So what’s this about?”.

 

“You know how Al and Scorp are in love with each other?” she asked.

 

“Desperately and with their entire beings. What about it?”.

 

“Well” Rose sighed, trying to figure out how she was going to word this. “One of my friends has a crush on Scorpius and I told her I would ask him what he thought of her”.

 

“A terrible decision” James chastised.

 

“I know but I don’t know quite how to tell her that she’ll never really have a shot. Or if she does manage to, that it’ll be a brief one” Rose explained. 

 

“Well, you can’t really blame her can you? Malfoy is quite a catch” he smirked.

 

“James, focus please” she muttered.

 

“You want to know how you can let her down easy, so to speak?”.

 

“I guess? I really don’t know how to handle this” she admitted. 

 

James considered the situation for a moment. A finger pressed to his chin in mock-thought. “Ok so let me get this straight”.

 

“Good luck with that” Rose smirked.

 

“It’s but a turn of phrase, my dear cousin” he smiled. “Albus and Scorpius are in love, obviously but don’t really know it yet. Or if they do they’re not willing to admit it yet”.

 

“Right” Rose confirmed.

 

“One of your friends, a female, has a crush on Scorpius without realising that his heart belongs to another” James continued.

 

“Also right”.

 

“And you’ve told said friend that you’ll invite her along so she can spend more time with him, subconsciously hoping that she’ll get the fact that the crush is a lost cause”.

 

Rose nodded again.

 

“Quite the pickle isn’t it?”.

 

“Tell me something I don’t know” she muttered.

 

“I can see the solution” he said, holding a hand up and gazing off into the middle distance. “It’s a glowing light at this incredibly dark tunnel. It’s calling to me-”.

 

“James, honestly just tell me” Rose interrupted. 

 

“I forgot that you weren’t a fan of the dramatic arts” he said.

 

Rose rolled her eyes at that, “Just get to the point”.

 

“The easiest way for Scorpius to avoid having to deal with someone who wants to date him” James declared, “is by already dating someone”.

 

“But Scorp isn’t dating anyone” Rose reminded him.

 

James held up a hand to shush her. “It is a mere a illusion” he said. “He only has to appear to be dating someone”.

 

Rose thought that over for a moment. If Alice knew that Scorpius was already dating someone then she wouldn’t have a reason to pursue him. She wasn’t the type to go after someone who was already taken, not at all. Honestly it was a theory that could quite work. “So what are you suggesting? That Scorp fake dates someone so that Alice loses interest?” she asked.

 

“Precisely” James confirmed.

 

“But who would we get to agree to that?”. Scorpius wasn’t unattractive by any means and Alice isn’t the first girl to find herself with a crush on him but Rose was definitely not going to nominate herself for the position. It would compromise her friendship with Alice and she really didn’t want to have to deal with a fake relationship anyway. She had goals of her own and she didn’t need that kind of distraction. 

 

“We already have the perfect candidate” he beamed at her.

 

Rose cocked her head to the side, confused, “What do you mean?”.

 

“Well who do we know that’s already head over heels for his best friend?”.

 

_ Of course _ , Rose thought. “Albus” she answered.

 

“You see, I’m a genius” he smirked at her. “Scorpius and Albus fake date. Your friend Alice loses interest in him but they realise their interest in each other. They fall deeply in love and we get to stop dealing with their pining”.

 

Rose laughed. “The perfect plan” she beamed at him.

 

“I told you, you came to the right person” he replied.

 

“It’s good to know you’re at least good for something” she smirked.

 

“Talk to me when you want to get it on with the Hufflepuff seeker” he winked at her, before turning on his heel and walking back towards the fat lady’s portrait. 

 

“You know what, I take that back!” she called, rushing after him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It begins. I'm so happy that you're all enjoying this. I loved writing it so so much.
> 
> I'll see you all next week!
> 
> Oh, and I'm over on Tumblr at potter-awakening if anyone would like to message me about this, or anything really :)


	5. Imitate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Ok, so this fic reached 100 kudos overnight and I'm super emotional about that so I thought I'd upload this chapter early as some kind of compensation for all the positivity. This chapter sort of gets the dating ball rolling, so to speak. Oh, and there's some pining. I hope you guys like it!

Saturday was one of the most beautiful days of the week. It was a day that you could truly have to yourself. And even though you would have a meltdown on Sunday because of all the work you’d neglected it was still worth it to have a relaxing Saturday. Rose made her way down to the Great Hall in search of her two friends. Scorpius was often an early riser and somehow Albus had picked up the habit as well over their time sharing a dorm so the two of them were often already up and having breakfast by the time she joined them. There weren’t ever many students in The Great Hall at this time. Everyone usually trickled down in the later hours of the morning after sleeping in. Rose was a little surprised to see that only Scorpius was present. He was sitting up the far end of the Slytherin table with a cup of coffee and the day’s issue of the  _ Prophet _ . It was obvious that he was trying to stay as far away from everyone as he could but he had no problem as Rose came and sat across from him. 

 

“Morning” he smiled, eyes not leaving the article he was reading.

 

“Al sleeping in?” she asked. 

 

“Early morning quidditch practice. No one was all that happy but there’s a lot of intent of whipping them into shape this year or something” he replied.

 

“Well I guess that’s ok. I do need to to talk to you” she replied. “The aloneness will help, I think”.

 

Scorpius looked up at her, intrigued. “Is everything ok?” he asked. Rose usually shared everything with the two of them, both him and Albus. There wasn’t really many instances of her having to talk to one of them alone. 

 

Rose nodded. She quickly made herself a coffee and enchanted her spoon to mix it for her. “It’s something that Al with have to hear eventually but at the moment I’m just in the planning stages” she replied.

 

Scorpius’ brow furrowed and he seemed to be trying to figure out what that meant.

 

“It’ll be a little easier for you if I explain, won’t it?”. Rose took a sip of her coffee as Scorpius nodded. “Well, I was talking to James last night”.

 

“My condolences” he smirked.

 

Rose rolled her eyes at that, “I needed some advice about something more in his league of expertise”.

 

“Is this about the Hufflepuff seeker?” Scorpius asked.

 

“No” Rose muttered. “Why do people keep asking that?”.

 

He smirked. He wasn’t going to tell her that some of the other students had set up a little bet pool on when Rose was going to ask the Hufflepuff seeker out. He’d definitely saved his money on that one. 

 

“It’s about you actually” she continued.

 

“Me?”.

 

Rose looked around her, as if to see if anyone was near them which of course they weren’t. There were about five other students in the hall and all of them looked way too tired to even be registering anything around them. “Remember my lovely friend Alice?” she asked.

 

Scorpius nodded.

 

“Well, she has this crazy little crush on you” she continued.

 

“On me?” Scorpius asked.

 

“You say that like you’re surprised” Rose mused.

 

“Well, usually people want to be as far away from me as possible” he reminded.

 

“She’s not the first girl to have a crush on you, Scorp”.  _ Or the first person _ , she corrected.

 

“That’s a little confusing” he muttered. Usually everyone kept their distance from him. It was probably some kind of combination of who they assumed he would be and who they assumed Albus was. Since the two of them were usually seen together then that really didn’t help the matter. But over the years Scorpius had gotten used to it. It didn’t really bother him too much anymore.

 

“In second year the Gryffindor girls did a poll on who the most attractive boy in Hogwarts was and you came in third” Rose stated.

 

Scorpius eyes widened at that. “Third? Who came in first?” he asked.

 

“James if you can believe it”.

 

“I shouldn’t even be surprised” he laughed.

 

“Speaking of” Rose muttered. The two of them had gone off track a little and she needed to bring them back to the case at hand.

 

“Wait, did you vote in the poll?” Scorpius asked.

 

“Are you serious? Who do you think I am?” she laughed. “Now, Scorp seriously I need to talk to you”.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve distracted you haven’t I? I’ll shut up”.

 

Rose smiled at that. A flustered Scorpius was a sweet Scorpius, that was something she’d learnt over the years. Especially when Albus was around. No that Scorpius was ever anything but sweet, but it definitely helped. “So I was talking to James about the fact that I’m in this strange position where I have a friend that has a crush on you and yet you obviously don’t have any kind of feelings towards her. At least I assume so?”.

 

“I don’t really feel anything towards her. I mean, she seems nice and all but the staring is just a little bit creepy” he replied. “I don’t really know much about her actually”.

 

“She is nice” Rose confirmed. “There’s a lot more to her than that but that’s what she’s most known for, I guess. I told her that you thought she was nice and she seemed quite happy with that but I don’t think I should push that any further since you’re not really interested”.

 

“Wait, I’m confused. Are you trying to set me up with your friend or not?” he asked.

 

“I’m not” she muttered. “I was talking to James about how we can maybe stop this crush in its tracks before it gets worse. Not that Alice is one to do anything crazy but I just don’t want her to think she has some kind of chance with you if she really doesn’t. Make sense?”.

 

“Makes sense” Scorpius nodded. “I’m a little concerned about what James would suggest in this situation” he added.

 

“He was actually helpful” Rose replied.

 

“Well that’s surprising” Scorpius laughed.

 

“James is all kinds of knowledgeable when it comes to these sorts of things”.

 

“Well did you two come to some kind of conclusion?” he asked. Scorpius drained the rest of his coffee before setting his mug aside. He folded his arms against the table and leaned forward slightly, waiting patiently for Rose to speak.

 

“Well yes” Rose said. “There’s a way that you can stop Alice from staring at you and making you uncomfortable”.

 

“How so?”.

 

Rose took a deep breath. “To avoid someone wanting to date you, you just have to date someone else” she said.

 

Scorpius looked over at her for a moment, confused. “Rose, I’m not dating anyone right now”.

 

“I know. You don’t have to really be dating someone. You just have to get Alice to think you are so she backs off a little” she explained.

 

“I don’t know if I like where this is going”.

 

Rose huffed. “I’m not talking about me, Scorp. That would jeopardize my friendship with Alice. And plus, I don’t have a time for a relationship right now. Especially some kind of fake one”. 

 

“Then what are you on about?”.

 

_ Boys _ , she thought. “Scorp, there’s only one person who would even consider helping you out like this” she reminded him.

 

“Albus?”.

 

“Yes, Albus. Who else?” she smirked.

 

“He did mention the other week that some of the quidditch team thought we were together” Scorpius muttered.

 

“See? It’s believable don’t you think?” Rose beamed. She was a genius. And maybe James could receive a little of that credit. There was no way that Scorpius had to know about the ulterior motive that made all of this possible. Which was of course, to simply get her two best friends together. 

 

“So you think I should ask Al to pretend to date me?” he asked for clarification. Scorpius was trying to put this all together in his head. Maybe the idea of dating Albus was a little exciting, not that he’d ever admit that but pretending to for selfish reasons just felt  _ wrong _ . It didn’t feel fair to Albus at all, if he even agreed to it. He remembered back to how upset Albus had been when the Slytherin team had teased him about them being together. He couldn’t put Albus through that at all. 

 

“Well yes. To be quite frank” Rose shrugged casually, “I think it would be your best chance at getting everyone to sort of leave you alone”.

 

“They already do that” Scorpius muttered, indicating the other students in the room that had about doubled in number since their conversation had started but were still keeping a distance from the two of them.

 

“I mean the girls. Specifically Alice, in this situation”.

 

Scorpius looked across at his friend. Rose would never ask him to do something like this unless she truly believed that it was the best option for him. “It just doesn’t seem fair to Al” he admitted.

 

“Al would pretty much commit to anything if he knew it would make you happy” she replied. Her cousin was pretty much entirely devoted to Scorpius. It was just a little bit adorable. He was as loyal as a Hufflepuff when it mattered. 

 

_ And I would do the same for him _ , he thought. Well, that about settled it then. “I don’t really know how to ask him” he admitted. 

 

“With words would probably be best” Rose smirked at him. 

 

Scorpius laughed at that, all the uncertainty in the air between leaving. “Alright, I guess I’ll just have to just ask him. But I’ll tell him everything, I’m not going to lead him on like that”.

 

“You better not”.

 

….

 

Albus was exhausted but elated. Maybe starting off his Saturday with an early morning quidditch practice wasn’t the greatest way to start the day but at least he got see how much the team was improving. They were working together as a team better this year that they had previously and Albus could attribute that to everyone’s devotion to win their captain one last quidditch cup before he left Hogwarts. Their next game was going to be incredible, that much he knew. But for the moment he was remembering just how hungry he was, since he’d missed breakfast that morning in favour of getting to the quidditch pitch on time. There would be a lot more students in the Great Hall at this time and Albus wasn’t a fan of being in there when there was a lot of people, since he often found people staring at him which made him just a little bit uncomfortable. He’d written to his dad about it once who’d responded by telling him that he had felt the exact same way when he’d been faced with the stares of his peers. Somehow that had managed to make Albus feel just a little bit better. He just had to hope that Scorpius had saved him something so that he didn’t have to be seen. He needed to retreat to his dorm to change out of his quidditch robes anyway. 

 

When Albus spotted Scorpius making his way over to him he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. His best friend just seemed to have an effect on him that meant he was instantly happy whenever he laid eyes on him. Scorpius smiled back at him and somehow Albus felt complete, as if something had been missing when he hadn’t been around Scorpius. He really didn’t want to think too far into that since it was definitely dangerous territory. Albus wasn’t even sure when he’d started thinking about Scorpius in such a way but he was a little terrified that he had at all. It was definitely something that should never be brought up between the two of them. Albus was happy to keep it to himself and keep his distance from Scorpius so that they didn’t lose the friendship that they had. He’d rather die than have that happen, which must have been incredibly telling.

 

“I saved you some food” Scorpius said once he reached him. “I took it up to the dorms, there’s too many people in the Great Hall now”.

 

“You’re an angel” Albus laughed. “I mean, thank you”.  _ Idiot _ , he thought to himself. _ You’re an idiot, Albus Potter.  _

 

Scorpius just smiled and fell into step next to him as they made their way to Slytherin Dungeon. The rest of the quidditch team was already miles ahead of them somehow. Probably in a rush to the showers. 

 

“If it’s ok” Scorpius began. He wasn’t really sure how he was going to word any of this but he really hoped that he managed it in a way that didn’t make Albus hate him. “I’d like to talk to you about something”.

 

“Scorp, you know you can talk to me about anything” Albus smiled up at his best friend. There was something playing behind his eyes. Albus knew him well enough to know that he was worried about something. He just assumed that’s what they were going to talk about. 

 

“It’s something Rose and I were considering but we need you for it to truly work out”.

 

Now that was curious. If Scorpius and Rose were planning something why would they need him? “I just have to get out of these quidditch robes and then I’m all yours” Albus replied. 

 

Scorpius watched as Albus’ eyes widened when he realised what he’d just said, his cheeks turning just the slightest hint of red. Somehow it was incredibly endearing and Scorpius had to remind himself that there shouldn’t be a part of him wishing that Albus was all  _ his _ . That wasn’t something that you thought about your best friend. Especially if you were considering fake dating them in order to get some girl off your back. This was all a big mess and Scorpius was just going to have to let it unfold however it did. There seemed to be no turning back for him now anyway. He  _ wanted  _ to fake date Albus. He just wished that the word ‘fake’ wasn’t involved, but that was something that he could never admit. He wouldn’t risk losing Albus for selfish reasons. He’d rather die. 

 

….

 

When Albus returned from the showers he was wearing a Weasley sweater from last Christmas with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and was trying to shake as much water out of his hair as he could. Scorpius shouldn’t have been thinking about how adorable that was. It was a sight he’d seen a million times before. Nothing was different about it and yet here he was, thinking differently. He had no idea when that started but knew better than to think too far into it. If he was going to fake date his best friend he needed to contain himself. Feelings would just make things complicated. 

 

“So what did you need to talk about?” Albus asked. He’d retreated immediately to his bed where Scorpius had left an assortment of his favourite breakfast foods. All of their roommates had awoken and were now in various areas of the castle enjoying their Saturday so the two of them were alone. Albus didn’t want to think about how that was both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. 

 

Scorpius had thought this over. He’d thought out a very careful order of words that would make all of this make some sort of sense. He knew what he was going to say and in what order he was going to say it. There was some comfort in that. As he looked over at his best friend who was eagerly waiting for him to speak his nerves seemed to get the better of him. “Al, I need you to date me”.

 

“What?”. Whatever he’d been expecting it wasn’t that.

 

_ Shit shit shit shit _ . “Let me explain” Scorpius backtracked, panic rising his chest forcefully. “Alice has a crush on me. A big one and Rose and James thought that it would be a good idea to get her to think I’m dating someone so that Alice backed off a little. So I don’t really have to date someone I just have make it look like I am. Does that makes sense?”. This was stupid. This whole thing was stupid and Scorpius would probably never forgive himself for asking and putting them in this position.

 

“So you want me to fake date you so you can let down a girl without actually talking to her?” Albus asked. He guessed it made sense. In a way. Scorpius was never really fond of girls, at least in a romantic sense, and he probably had no idea how to turn one down without hurting her feelings.

 

“It sounds worse when you put it like that doesn’t it?”. Scorpius was blushing, something that he rarely ever did. It was solely out of embarrassment, he lied to himself. It wasn’t because he wanted Albus to say yes. It wasn’t because he wanted to date Albus, fake or not. It was because this whole thing was awkward.

 

“I’ll do it” Albus said.

 

“What?”.

 

Albus smiled at that. “I’ll help you out” he confirmed. He was more than surprised when Scorpius sprung from his bed and threw his arms around him. Not that he was complaining, hugging Scorpius was definitely one of his favourite things. But they were usually reserved for when they parted ways for winter break or summer, or when they passed some kind of large test. Something like this seemed a little trivial in comparison but that didn’t stop him from hugging back tightly. As if he didn’t want to let go. 

 

“Thank you, Al. Thank you, thank you. I know this is super weird but I’m really happy you understand” Scorpius was saying. 

 

_ Don’t let go _ , Albus thought. But when Scorpius pulled away he let him because trying to hold him there would have been more than weird. “Some people already think we’re together so it shouldn’t be that much of a stretch” Albus shrugged, trying to seem like this was the most normal thing in the world. 

 

“I don’t know how to date someone” Scorpius admitted. “Fake or otherwise”.

 

“I don’t know either” Albus replied. Dating had never been his forte and he’d only ever considered the thought with Scorpius. And only recently. At least, he thought it was only recently. How long had this crush been going on for?

 

“We need to talk to Rose” they said at the same time. 

 

Scorpius offered Albus his hand and Albus took it, letting his best friend pull him up. The result was that they were standing incredibly close to each other and by the way Scorpius’ eyes widened Albus could tell that he wasn’t anticipating that. 

 

“Have you had enough breakfast?” Scorpius asked.

 

“Yes, thanks to you” he replied. 

 

Scorpius smiled and let go of Albus’ hand, that he realised he was still somehow holding, ignoring how it had made his heart race just the slightest bit. “Rose will either be at the library all the lake” he said.

 

“It’s Saturday, she’ll be at the lake for the morning”.

 

“And the library for the afternoon” Scorpius finished.

 

Albus looked up at the clock in their dorm absently. “We should be able to catch he on her way to library” he said.

 

“Good, because I really don’t want to have this conversation somewhere people could overhear”.

 

“It would ruin it” Albus confirmed. “I understand”.

 

“Are you ok?” Scorpius asked. Albus hadn’t really questioned it. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, there was some initial confusion but that was about it.  _ Al would pretty much commit to anything if he knew it would make you happy _ , Rose’s voice in his head repeated. Albus was loyal that much was true. The question was whether that loyalty was well placed. A part of Scorpius felt like he was taking advantage of his best friend and that wasn’t a thought that settled well with him. 

 

Something flickered through Albus’ eyes that Scorpius didn’t quite catch. “I’m ok” Albus smiled up at him. “I mean, it’s a little strange for you to ask me to do this but I guess I’m your only option. It would compromise Rose’s friendship with Alice and would make things awkward over at Gryffindor” he said.

 

“And it would ruin her chances with the Hufflepuff seeker” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Oh and that too” Albus laughed, “I’m sure she would be devastated with that”.

 

“But you’re really ok with this?” he pressed. 

 

Albus nodded. “Shouldn’t be too hard” he shrugged. Truth was he was just a little bit terrified. He’d have to control himself the whole time. He couldn’t let Scorpius know how he really felt since this was all supposed to be fake. And he didn’t want to scare away his best friend. Maybe after they’d talked to Rose he would feel a little more confident about everything. Albus was just scared of somehow overstepping or making it  _ too real _ , regardless if that was the point or not. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this is a semi-cliffhanger? I'll most likely still upload the next chapter on the weekend, so it's like you guys are getting two chapters in one week. I hope that's ok? 
> 
> Until next time!


	6. Boundaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking, "Jess, it's not even the weekend yet why are you updating this so early?". The truth, my dear friends, is that I'm so flogged down with uni work at the moment that I'll probably forget to update this on Saturday. Which would be incredibly painful, of course, and I would hate it to come to that. So here I am, on this eventful Thursday evening to give you all a new chapter.  
> This chapter features James being everything I've ever wanted him to be (and hopefully you have as well), Rose being the perfect cousin, Albus being a panicky little dork and Scorpius being the actual angel that he is. I hope you all enjoy it!

Albus and Scorpius were right to leave when they did. They managed to find Rose just before she entered the library for an afternoon of reading and maybe studying if she felt motivated enough. She beamed when she saw the two of them. Whether that was just in general or because of recent events they were unsure. She was already carrying about three books in her arms, one of them a recommendation from Scorpius and the others gifts from her mother. Hermione often sent her new books when she found something that she knew Rose would be interested in, or if they were something she enjoyed when she was Rose’s age. 

 

“So how are my two lovely best friends today?” she asked as they approached. 

 

“We need to talk to you” Scorpius replied. “But not here” he added as a few students passed by them.

 

“So the plan is going well?” she smirked.

 

“Yes” Albus replied. “Sort of”.

 

“I think we’re going to have to find James for this conversation” she replied. “He knows a lot more than I do about this topic”.

 

The two boys nodded at her. Of course he did. James wasn’t a serial dater or anything like that. He just managed to somehow know things. He was probably just an observant sponge that picked up on all the knowledge around him to add to the advice databank in his brain. 

 

“He’ll be by the lake” Albus said. “Avoiding responsibilities”.

 

The three of them made their way down to the lake. Since it was a nice day a lot of students were outside. They overheard multiple groups making plans to head to Hogsmeade for the afternoon and buy out Honeydukes on their way through. A lot of students of all houses were scattered throughout the grounds taking advantage of the sun on their Saturday. James was lying on the grass near the lake, his usual group of friends were nowhere to be found and Albus wondered if they were actually studying while James just avoided all of that. He wouldn’t be surprised. 

 

“Alright, Potter!” Rose called to him as they walked over. 

 

James opened his eyes and looked up at the three of them, a smile forming on his face. “Morning, Rosey” he replied.

 

“Our plan is starting to come together” she said in a quieter voice, sitting down on the grass next to him. Scorpius and Albus sat next to her automatically. 

 

“Quite nice of you to share the credit” he smirked at her. 

 

“No friends today?” Albus asked.

 

James waved a hand dismissively. “They’ve all gone of to Hogsmeade. Once you get to my age you’ve seen all that little village has to offer” he said.

 

“James, you’re only two years older than me”.

 

“And at least ten years wiser, baby bro” James beamed.

 

“Age doesn’t always constitute life experience” Scorpius muttered.

 

“You know Malfoy, you really are as different as possible to what everyone expects you to be” James looked over at him.

 

“I’m not going to act like I’m not proud of that”.

 

“So what’s the issue?” James asked. “Come to feed off my wealth of advice?”.

 

“I don’t know how to date anyone” Albus explained, dropping his voice even though they weren’t near any other students. And everyone else was far too busy lounging about to pay them any attention.

 

“Ah, I see” James smirked. “Well for starters when you two walked over here you weren’t even holding hands. Hand holding is crucial within a relationship”.

 

“Your eyes weren’t even open, how could you know that?” Rose asked.

 

“Romance is my sixth sense” he shrugged. “Oh, and plus. Al, is a real slut for hand holding so that’ll help you out a lot”.

 

“I’m not a slut for anything” Albus replied, slightly uncomfortable. 

 

“Well now you can date Scorpius and hold hands with him. I’m sure that will make you day brighter” he smirked.

 

“Fake date” Scorpius reminded, because he was still a little guilty about this entire thing. 

 

Albus looked over at his best friend. Fake date was right, but a part of him wished that it was somehow more than that. A large part of him that he was trying his best to repress. 

 

Scorpius looked over at Rose because somehow, someway he knew that she understood all this. And how he felt about it all. 

 

Rose nodded and turned back to her cousin. “James, could you be serious please?” she requested.

 

“Well, Sirius is my middle name” he beamed.

 

The three of them groaned at that. It was a joke that James was intent on making as many times as he could throughout his life. Somehow it always had the same reaction and he was more than proud of that. 

 

James sat up and gazed at the three of them. They all looked about as lost as each other. “Alright, I’ll behave myself” he said. “What can I help you with?”.

 

Albus looked over at his two friends. Rose was looking at him expectantly and Scorpius just looked lost and somehow guilty. He wanted to assure his best friend that all of this was fine. He’d do anything to help him, whatever it consisted of. Albus turned back to his brother. James was a wealth of information on these kinds of things and he’d never had to delve into that before. “I can’t believe I’m asking you this” he started, “but how do you date someone?”.

 

James beamed at that. “They grow up so fast don’t they?” he looked at Rose.

 

Rose nodded, trying not to laugh but somehow James had that effect on everyone. It was definitely from her side of the family. 

 

“Well” James said, turning back to his brother and Scorpius. “A good place to start is trust and communication. You two already have that. Then there’s a deep emotional bond. You two already have that as well”.

 

“James” Rose interrupted, “I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but they need specifics”.

 

“I was getting to that” he reminded. “Gotta make it look real and what I’ve said already is a big part of that. Anyways, again I’ll stress that hand holding is a good place to start. When you two sit next to each literally sit right next to each other. Same with walking next to each other, actually. If you make it look like you’d rather there’d be zero space between you at all times then that helps make it look believable” he explained.

 

“I guess that sounds easy enough” Scorpius shrugged. He wasn’t really sure how to handle any of this but at least there were little things the two of them could do. He didn’t want to overwhelm Albus, romance wasn’t really his thing.

 

“Kissing” James continued. “Kissing is a big part of relationships”.

 

_ Kissing _ , Albus thought. He hadn’t even thought about that. Well, he’d  _ thought  _ about kissing Scorpius but in this context it wasn’t something that had crossed his mind yet. He wasn’t sure if he could kiss Scorpius without it meaning something to him. And that was a terrifying thought. He looked over at Rose, panicked. She gave him a grim smile in return and he knew that she was aware exactly how he was feeling in that moment.

 

“I don’t mean just snogging. I mean like kisses on the cheek and forehead and whatever. That kind of cutesy bullshit. If hand holding won’t convince that girl to move on a little then that definitely will”.

 

“Would you be comfortable with that?” Scorpius asked, looking over at his best friend.

 

Albus looked at the ground in front of him. “I don’t know” he admitted. He wasn’t really fond the idea of kissing Scorpius if it wasn’t real. Just the thought of that felt wrong. 

 

“I mean, you two don’t have to start snogging straight away. Take as long as you need, if you even get there. Cuddly shit should be enough for Alice to get the idea anyway” James shrugged. He could sense his brother’s discomfort, and Scorpius’ guilt. He shared a look with Rose, maybe they’d pushed a little too hard.

 

“Honestly, even if Alice just sees you two holding hands she’ll understand. No need to over do it” Rose suggested. 

 

“Again, I can’t believe I’m saying this” Albus looked up at his brother, “but thank you for your help”.

 

“Anytime. If you need anything else, I’ll be around, ok?” James smiled at him. It was a genuine smile, not one of his smirks or joking smiles. He was just a little worried about his brother. 

 

“I’ll owl you” Albus smiled back.

 

James laughed at that and reached out to ruffle Albus’ hair. “I’ll be waiting”.

 

Rose, Albus and Scorpius stood up, said their goodbyes to James and starting heading back towards the castle. Albus had an itching need to talk to his cousin, alone. Just for a few moments so he could unleash all his fears and feelings and figure out how he was going to do this. 

 

“Um, Scorp?” Albus muttered, somewhat awkwardly. All of them were yet to speak so a silence had fallen between them.

 

“Yeah?” Scorpius asked, looking over at his best friend. There was still worry in his eyes and Albus wondered if he was regretting going into this entirely.

 

“Is it ok if I talk to Rose a little bit, just by myself? Not that I don’t want to talk to you or anything I just -”.

 

“It’s ok” Scorpius smiled patiently. “We can talk later too”.

 

“Thank you” Albus breathed.

 

“There’s this book I’ve been reading anyway” he shrugged.

 

“You’re always reading something” Albus smiled fondly.

 

“I’ll see you later” Scorpius replied. “Bye Rose” he added.

 

“Bye, Scorp”.

 

Albus watched as Scorpius rushed ahead of them. He would probably head straight to the dorms and start reading like he said he would. Or maybe he’d even head up to the library. Either way Albus wasn’t feeling the best. 

 

“You haven’t upset him by needing time to take this in, you know” Rose said simply. She knew her cousin and she knew that look in his eyes. It was a guilty one. It was a ‘I hope I haven’t upset anyone’ look. 

 

“Rose, I’m terrified” he admitted, looking up at her. 

 

Rose stopped in her tracks. Maybe she hadn’t anticipated just how much this would affect Albus. Maybe she should have thought this through a little more. You were always supposed to sleep on a big decision but here they were. She tugged on his sleeve gently, pulling him away from the stream of students slowly making their way to and from the castle and placed her hands on his shoulders to ground him. “Talk to me” she said.

 

“I have feelings” Albus started, looking at the ground instead of his cousin, “for Scorpius and I know that you’re very aware of that but he isn’t and I don’t know if I can pretend that all of this is fake when there’s a part of me that wishes it was real. I don’t know how long these feelings have lasted for. I don’t even know when they appeared but lately I’ve been thinking about him differently and I don’t know if I can go through with this”.

 

“Al, you can back out of this right now and it wouldn’t matter. We can figure something else out. Hell, I could just straight up tell Alice that Scorp isn’t interested in her and that would solve it”. She looked over at Albus and saw how upset he was, regret coursing through her. That’s what she should have done in the first place.

 

“No. I mean, cuddly stuff I think I could do but I could never kiss him and have it mean nothing. If I could even kiss him at all. It would mean so much to me and just the thought that it would mean absolutely nothing to him makes me a little bit sick” he explained.

 

“You don’t have to kiss him” Rose stated. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. You could hold his hand and that would be enough”.

 

“I know, but honestly even that would mean something to me. I just … I don’t know”. Albus wasn’t really sure how to bunch all the emotions running through him into words. “I’m just a little overwhelmed, I guess” he said.

 

Rose pulled Albus into a hug and held him there. He buried his face against her neck and hugged her back. They didn’t hug much, only when one of them really needed it. This just happened to be one of those moments. “Take your time with this” she said gently. “Have a talk with Scorpius about what you’re comfortable with and if you find that you’re not comfortable with any of it then we’ll figure something else out”.

 

“Romance isn’t my thing. It never has been. It’s just Scorpius. I think it’s always been Scorpius” he muttered.

 

“Al, there’s no shame in that”.

 

“I know. I just … I really want to  _ be _ with him”.

 

“But not like this” Rose sighed. She pulled away from him, holding him by the shoulders again. “We’re going to work through this together, ok?” she declared. “Baby steps”.

 

“I just don’t want to upset him” Albus replied.

 

“You won’t, Al. I promise you that”.

 

“I knew there was a reason you were my favourite cousin” he said, a crooked smile appearing on his face.

 

“Maybe I’ll tell Hugo you said that” Rose laughed.

 

“You wouldn’t dare”.

 

…..

 

Scorpius was curled up on his bed in the dorms. None of his roommates were back yet. Or if they were they’d stayed downstairs in the common room and he was grateful for that. He was trying to make his way through a book that Rose had given him. He’d been really enjoying it but mostly he found himself gazing at the door and hoping Albus would appear at any moment. He was insanely worried about his best friend. He knew that he could get overwhelmed fairly easily. He’d seen it during exams and when Albus was stressing over an assignment and he didn’t want to be the cause of that. He wanted Albus to know that if he had to back out of this that he would be completely fine with that. Maybe this was all an elaborate ruse that they’d built because Scorpius was a fucking coward who didn’t want to tell a girl that he had no interest in her. He didn’t have to drag Albus through it as well. 

 

When the door opened and Albus entered the first thing he noticed was that Albus looked panicked and shaky. It was similar to the way he looked when he came out of a test he was sure he’d done terrible in (he never actually did terrible) but somehow this was worse. “Can we talk?” he asked, not quite looking at Scorpius. “About everything?”.

 

“Of course we can talk” he said. Scorpius closed his book and put it down on his bed side table gently. Technically it still belonged to Rose and she would kill him if he ever damaged one of her books. 

 

Albus hesitated for just a second before coming over and sitting on the end of Scorpius’ bed. He sat his hands in his lap and avoided looking at his best friend, trying to get all his thoughts together. Scorpius had always been patient, and Albus was just grateful that he didn’t push him. “You know how I am” he muttered, “about all this stuff. It’s not really my area”.

 

“I know” Scorpius replied. Of course he knew. He’d known Albus for five years. He could read him pretty well. And he was so incredibly guilty about what he could see now. 

 

“I guess I should tell you how scared I am” he continued. “I know that maybe it won’t make sense to you but this isn’t really something I’m used to and I’m just a bit overwhelmed”.

 

“Al, you can back out of this right now and it won’t matter, ok? I promise you that”.

 

“Rose told me you would say that” he smiled faintly and looked up at Scorpius.

 

Scorpius wanted to ignore that Albus’ eyes were a little red. As if he was about to start crying. Albus wasn’t one to cry often, but when he did it was the most devastating thing Scorpius had ever seen. “Al-”.

 

“If I told you that I’m not really comfortable with kissing you would that upset you?” he asked. That was probably the easiest way he could put it.

 

“Merlin’s beard, Albus, of course not. You know I would never make you do anything that would make you uncomfortable. We can make some boundaries. I never want to hurt you” Scorpius said. Just the thought of hurting Albus, even accidently was something that made him feel sick. The thought of other people hurting him also made him sick. Basically he never wanted Albus to be hurt, period. 

 

“Thank you” Albus half-whispered. “If I hug you would that be weird? Hugs are ok right?”.

 

Scorpius smiled at that. “Come here, you massive dork” he laughed. 

 

Albus moved closer to Scorpius. He buried his head against his shoulder gently and clung to his best friend. Two hugs in one day was interesting. Hugs were something that didn’t usually happen unless it for for a reason. He guessed that this was some sort of the reason. A worthy reason, he hoped. 

 

Scorpius tried to ignore to when Albus sniffed quietly but decided that hugging him a little bit tighter might be of more comfort to him. He rested his head on top of Albus’ gently. “Let’s make some boundaries” he muttered. “Hugging is ok?” he asked.

 

“Yeah” Albus confirmed, voice thick and muffled by Scorpius’ shoulder. 

 

“What else are you comfortable with?”.

 

“Maybe just hand holding at the moment” he replied. “If that’s ok”.

 

“I can work with that” Scorpius agreed. He thought for a moment. “Ok how about this. Tomorrow’s Sunday so we’ll probably be in the library with Rose for most of it. Alice will probably tag along. I can sit right next to you, maybe put my arm around you at some point. Would that be ok?”.

 

“Yeah” Albus muttered, “That would be nice actually”. The words left him before he could stop them.

 

“Then that’s what we’ll do” Scorpius smiled. “If you’re ever uncomfortable just let me know and I’ll back off a bit, ok?” he offered.

 

“Thanks”.

 

“This is weird enough as it is” Scorpius laughed. “We don’t want discomfort on top of all that”.

  
“You’re amazing you know that” Albus said, pulling away and looking at Scorpius. He was a little bit embarrassed and it was a risky thing to say, but the way Scorpius lit up made it all worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the shorter chapters in this story, but I hope that's still ok?  
> Next weeks is longer so maybe that will make up for it.  
> Oh, and the (James) Sirius joke is something I was waiting to make. It just fit so perfectly in this chapter that I couldn't resist.  
> I'll see you all next week!


	7. Just Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am the actual worst at schedules right now because I just want to post all the time and this fic is finished so theoretically I could post every day but I've been trying to stagger it but oh gosh. In short, don't be surprised if I start updating this twice a week instead of once. I'm too excited about it.
> 
> This chapter is a fluffy one. I hope you guys like it!

The next morning Albus and Scorpius grabbed all the textbooks they’d need before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was obvious that they had a lot to catch up on. On Sundays the library filled up quickly with students desperately throwing together last minute essays and cramming for quizzes the next day, so it was best to get in early. They managed to leave without waking any of their roommates, a feat which they were right to be proud of. 

 

“Would you like me to carry your books for you?” Scorpius joked as the two of them traversed the scarcely populated hallways.

 

Albus looked over at him. Scorpius was carrying just as many books as he was. “You’ve got enough of your own there haven’t you?” he asked.

 

“Well yes, but that’s a trope isn’t it? In those muggle films?”.

 

Albus laughed at that, “Are you taking dating advice from romantic comedies?”.

 

Scorpius shrugged, trying not to jostle the books in his arms. “It was just something I remembered you telling me once”.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever talked to you about romantic comedies before?” Albus muttered, trying to go over his memories to see if there was anything that fit that description.

 

“Um, second year. You came back from summer and Rose made you marathon a few while you were staying at The Burrow” Scorpius explained.

 

“How can you remember something I told you at the beginning of second year?” Albus asked, impressed. He knew that Scorpius had a good memory, that’s why he was such a good student. But he wasn’t aware how far that carried.

 

“I remember a lot of the things you tell me” he muttered. “Is that weird?”.

 

Albus smiled faintly, “No, it’s kind of nice actually”.

 

“You’re important to me, you know” Scorpius returned his smile, “So I remember things”.

 

“You’re really laying on the mushiness aren’t you?” his smile turned into a smirk.

 

“No, that’s the truth”.

 

“Well thank you”.

 

….

 

Rose rushed into Great Hall not too long after Scorpius and Albus arrived. She noticed that the two of them were sitting closer to each other then usual and a part of her wanted to smirk at that but there was something more important on her mind. She placed her books down on the table and leaned against it, looking down at the two of them.

 

“There’s a History of Magic essay due tomorrow” she panted, having run all the way from Gryffindor Tower, “And I forgot all about it”.

 

“The great Rose Granger-Weasley forgetting an assignment? I never thought I’d see the day” Scorpius smirked at her.

 

“I’ll have to owl Aunt Hermione” Albus added.

 

“Scorpius” Rose sat down and leaned forward. “You’re better than me at a History of Magic. You have to help me” she said.

 

“Merlin’s beard, Scorp she’s hysterical” Albus replied, eyes flicking between his two friends.

 

“What do you suggest we do?” Scorpius played along.

 

“I’m glad you two are having fun” Rose cut in, “but you know I would never ask for help unless I was truly desperate”.

 

“My dear, Rose” Scorpius laughed, patting the top of her hand teasingly. “I vow to help you with this task”.

 

“You’re both still dorks” Rose rolled her eyes at them. “No wonder you’re perfect for each other”.

 

Scorpius laughed at that, thinking was a joke but Albus just looked across at her cousin. He could tell by the look on her face that it had just slipped out. 

 

“Sorry” she mouthed.

 

Albus shrugged, trying to stay calm and taking a sip from his coffee, “So is Alice tagging along today?”.

 

“Well, I did offer” Rose shrugged as she started to make a coffee of her own.

 

“Should be an interesting day” Scorpius replied.

 

“Do you think she’ll buy it?” Albus asked.

 

“I hope so” Rose replied. “You feeling better today?” she took a sip of her coffee.

 

Albus nodded, picked absently at the food on his plate, “Yeah, we set up some boundaries”.

 

“Baby steps?”.

 

“Baby steps” Scorpius agreed.

 

“You sure you’re ok with that?” Albus turned to him.

 

“Al, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I mean, you were nice enough to help me out with this so why would anything else bother me?” he stated. Albus’ eyes lit up at that, with relief it seemed as if this was still something he was worrying about somewhere in the back of his mind. Scorpius wondered briefly if there was anything else he was worried about. Anything that he didn’t have the courage to tell him.

 

“Thank you”.

 

“Are you two going to the quidditch game later?” Rose smirked at them. She was glad they were taking all of this so well. She’d been worried seeing how they’d reacted the day before but they seemed to work it out between them. She should have had more faith in them.

 

“Oh, I almost forgot about that” Albus muttered.

 

“Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw” she reminded.

 

“You going so you can watch the Hufflepuff seeker in her element again?” Scorpius smirked at her.

 

“Just scoping out the competition” she returned his smirk.

 

“It all depends on how much work we manage to finish before it starts” Albus reminded.

 

“At least now we have something to motivate us” Scorpius shrugged. 

 

“Good point”.

 

“We better start heading up to the library soon then” Rose added.

 

….

 

Once the three of them had finished breakfast they headed up to the library. There were a few more students milling about. Sundays were a little busier than Saturdays in the morning. A lot of people woke up from a fever dream about late assignments and panicked as they realised that they’d neglected their responsibilities all weekend. That was the norm. As they reached the library they noticed that Alice was approaching as well. They waited for her to catch up and the four of them walked in together. Alice was chatting idly to Rose about something that had happened in the Gryffindor common room the night before until they reached their usual table at the back of the library. Rose would never risk losing that table for anything. Scorpius made a  _ thing  _ about moving his chair as close to Albus’ as possible but it seemed to go unnoticed by Alice, who was still talking to Rose. 

 

“This ok?” Scorpius asked, turning to a somewhat blushing and slightly embarrassed Albus.

 

“It’s ok” he confirmed. 

 

“You need me to move over again, just let me know” he smiled.

 

“Ok”.

 

Rose was smirking at the two of them. Whatever weirdness this whole idea had brought it was worth it see how they were acting around each other now. This was how it starts, she thought. She’d have to send James some kind of thank you gift. Just the thought of that had her cringing just a little. Maybe James could be her partner in crime at times, but she’d rather not admit it.

 

The four of them didn’t talk much. They just quietly made their way through all the work they’d neglected over the weekend. Rose noticed Alice looked up Scorpius every now and then, which was a given. What she was more pleased with was the fact that she caught Scorpius gazing over at Albus every now and then with a fondness that had been steadily growing since the two of them had first met. She smirked to herself and continued studying for her Charms quiz. 

 

“You know, Scorp, I really have no idea how you’re so good at this subject” Albus muttered. He’d been struggling with the wording for the introduction to his History of Magic essay for just over half an hour and he was starting to get incredibly frustrated with it. With some prompting for Scorpius, Rose had already managed to make it through her essay and was seemingly genuinely happy with how it turned out. Albus was just a little bit jealous. 

 

“I just really like history” Scorpius shrugged, he put down his quill, not wanting to ruin his page with an ink blot, and looked over at his best friend.

 

“Well do you think you could magically historicize some sense into this essay for me?” he asked.

 

Scorpius laughed at that, “Al, that sentence didn’t make any sense”.

  
“See?” Albus questioned, “I’m hopeless”.

 

Scorpius reached his arm around Albus slowly, resting it against the back of his chair. “Of course you’re not hopeless” he reassured, “not everyone is great at every single subject. You’re better at DADA than me” he offered.

 

Rose smirked at that because good job that was  _ smooth _ . 

 

“I think I get it from my father” Albus shrugged casually.

 

“Give yourself some credit every once in awhile. You’re brilliant” Scorpius smiled at him fondly. 

 

Albus wasn’t 100% sure if Scorpius actually meant that or if he was just playing it up for the sake of Alice, who had been gazing over at them for the last few minutes, but either way he was incredibly touched. Scorpius certainly  _ looked  _ like he was being honest, and Albus knew him well enough to be able to tell when he was lying or not. 

 

“It’s really nice that you two are such good friends” Alice smiled at them.

 

Rose had her to clamp her hand over her mouth immediately to try and stop herself from laughing too loudly.  _ Friends _ , she thought. Oh gosh, the poor girl was _ delusional _ . Albus looked over at her losing her shit like he was on The Office and that only made it funnier. 

 

“Yeah” Scorpius muttered, tone completely flat and somehow cold. 

 

“It’s really nice to see close friendships” Alice continued.

 

Albus had to bite down on his lip incredibly hard to stop himself from laughing as well, but when he caught Scorpius’ eye he couldn’t stop himself. Even Scorpius started and then Alice was left looking incredibly confused as the librarian came over to shush the three of them.

 

“I’m sorry, did I miss a joke?” she asked.

 

“Al, you idiot you forgot to lift your quill again” Rose laughed. 

 

“Fuck, not again” Albus muttered, looking down at the pool of ink that had appeared on his page. Irony was such a cruel mistress. 

 

“Dork” Scorpius beamed at him.

 

….

 

The three of them managed to finish off enough work that they had reason to reward themselves by going to the quidditch game. Rose said she’d meet them later before making her way back to the Gryffindor Tower to dump all her books. Albus and Scorpius did the same, making their way down to the Slytherin Dungeon and stacking all their books neatly back into their trunks. Albus looked over at Scorpius and a thought suddenly occurred to him. A thought that he would have forced himself to ignore had they not been pretending to date, because now he had a reason to get away with those sorts of thoughts. He silently weighed his options as he watched as Scorpius organised his textbooks quickly in order of the when he would need them next. 

 

“Um” Albus muttered, somewhat awkwardly, “Scorp?”.

 

Scorpius straightened, happy with his textbooks for the moment. “Yeah?” he asked, looking over at his best friend. Albus was standing rather stiffly, as if he was unsure whether he should ask something or not.

 

“Did you want to hold my hand - I mean, do you want me to hold your hand. You know, as we walk to the quidditch game?” he stammered.

 

Scorpius smiled at that because a flustered Albus was an  _ adorable  _ Albus. “Is that what you want?” he asked.

 

“Um, you know, there’d be a lot of people going to the quidditch game. So there’d be a lot of visibility ...” he trailed off.

 

“You can hold my hand if you want, Al. You don’t have to be embarrassed about that” he smiled. 

 

“Maybe not until after we leave the common room” he muttered.

 

“Whenever you’re comfortable, just let me know”.

 

Once the two of them were a considerable distance from the Slytherin Dungeon, Albus reach out and intertwined their fingers carefully. He tried not to think about how right it felt to be holding hands with Scorpius but somehow couldn’t stop himself. Being with Scorpius felt right and even though he knew it was fake a part of him was still grateful that he had some kind of reason to be doing this. Because holding hands with Scorpius was something he’d been thinking about a lot and he didn’t want to admit that to himself. Let alone anyone else, but when Rose came into view he could tell that somehow she knew. 

 

“Hand holding is a nice touch” she smirked at the two of them.

 

“Lots of visibility” Albus shrugged, casually. “The word can get around better that way”.

 

“Look at you becoming a clever dating strategist” she beamed as the three of them started making their way down to the quidditch pitch. 

 

“Thanks” Albus laughed.

 

“It’s just so nice to see that you two are such good  _ friends _ ”.

 

The three of them burst into a fit of laughter.

 

“I literally had my arm around you” Scorpius said. “I can’t believe she missed that”.

 

“Just guys being dudes” Albus joked.

 

“Oh my god” Rose laughed. 

 

“It was just a little ridiculous” Scorpius beamed.

 

“Obviously she was just blinded by how incredible you are” Rose joked.

  
“Flattery will get you nowhere, Granger-Weasley” he smirked. “Obviously I am far from single”.

 

Albus heard someone around them whisper something that involved “Potter” and “Malfoy” and tightened his grip on Scorpius’ hand. 

 

Scorpius looked over at him, a little bit worried. Not that he minded at all. Holding hands with Albus was some kind of amazing pleasantry that he hadn’t really expected. It somehow just felt right to be doing so. He really didn’t want to think about that too much. “You ok?” he asked. 

 

“I should be used to whispers by now” he muttered, “but sometimes I’m still not quite there yet”.

 

“I’m right here” Scorpius reminded. “Everything’s ok” he squeezed Albus’ hand gently for emphasis. 

 

“Thanks”.

 

“So who do you think will win?” Rose asked, glaring at a group of Gryffindors who looked at the three of them a little strangely. She’d probably be bombarded with questions in the common room later. She wasn’t the only person who seemed to think her cousin and friend would make a good couple.

 

“I really want to say Hufflepuff” Scorpius replied easily.

 

“If they win then we’ll get to play them next game” Albus added.

 

“Exciting isn’t it” he smiled. 

 

It seemed the majority of the school wanted to watch the quidditch match. Whether it was because of Ravenclaws slightly tarnished reputation, to procrastinate, or purely just because no one could really be sure. Either way the stands were filling up quickly in preparation for the game. Scorpius lead Albus up the stairs, still holding his hand and pointedly ignoring the whispers around them. Most of them seemed to be excited whispers, which left him a little bit surprised. How many people had actually thought they were already dating? Rose was behind the two of them. When they reached their usual spot in the Gryffindor stands (because the Slytherin stands could be a bit of a hit and miss if they brought Rose with them) they saw James, Hugo and Lily. Lily’s flag was yellow this time, in support of Hufflepuff and she beamed the second she saw the two of them holding hands. 

 

“Is that the famous Potter and Malfoy children holding hands I see?” she asked as the two of them approached her. 

  
“It seems so” Scorpius replied. 

 

“Can you image? I mean, can you imagine? Do you believe it? I mean do you  _ believe it _ ?” Lily rushed.

 

“Lily Luna Potter” Albus sighed, “do not quote musicals at me”.

 

“You remembered!” she beamed. “Oh, I’m so happy for you two. Wow, Al, I can’t believe you finally asked Scorpius out!”.

 

“Something like that” he muttered.

 

James caught Rose’s eye and the two of them shared a smirk. Their plan was successful. 

 

“Lily, how about you leave the two lovebirds alone” James smiled down at her. “I know you’re burning with questions but we have something more important to focus on”.

 

“I wonder what that could be” Rose half-whispered.

 

“We have to support Rose’s future girlfriend so that she can catch the snitch” he said matter-of-factly.

 

“There it is”.

 

“Romance is everywhere” Lily laughed. “It’s nice isn’t it?”.

 

“Lovely” James smirked. 

 

“I hate you, Potter” Rose called to him.

 

“Don’t offend my brother like that” he replied.

 

Rose and Albus rolled their eyes simultaneously and Scorpius laughed at them.

 

“You know” he looked over at the two of them, “sometimes I forget how much I like your family”.

 

“You don’t have to live with him” Albus shook his head, waving a hand to indicate his brother.

 

“You have it to so hard don’t you” he smirked.

 

“Oh shush you” he laughed. 

 

Scorpius let go of Albus’ hand and wrapped his hand around waist, pulling him against his side gently. He beamed when he saw that Albus blushed at that. “This ok?” he asked.

 

“Wonderful” Albus replied. Absolutely everything he had ever dreamed of. And fake or not he needed to let himself enjoy it. 

 

Rose giggled next to them and Lily let out a very sweet “awwww”. 

 

“This was a horrible idea” he whispered. 

  
“The Slytherin stands would have been much worse” Scorpius reminded.

 

“People are staring”.

 

“Yes, because we’re adorable. I’m right here. Everything’s fine” he smiled.

 

“You’re right, you are adorable” Albus smirked.

 

He laughed at that, “You are too”.

 

_ Fuck, you’re beautiful _ , he thought. “Your hair’s glowing” he muttered, reaching up and absently running a few fingers through it.

 

“You’ve told me that before you know” Scorpius smirked.

 

Albus dropped his hand slowly. He hoped that hadn’t been overstepping but Scorpius just looked happy. “Really?’.

 

“Well, you got knocked off your broom you were very intent on telling me that my hair glows in the sunlight” he teased. 

 

“So that was real” he muttered.

 

“You remember that?” Scorpius asked. 

 

“Yeah. It’s a little fuzzy but I can remember that much. A little embarrassing, I guess” Albus looked down at the quidditch pitch.

 

“Not really” Scorpius shrugged, “It was sweet actually”.

 

“How so?”.

 

“I mean, you had a concussion. You’d just fallen off your broom and somehow the only thing really important to you was that the fact that my hair catches the sunlight” he explained.

 

Albus blushed again.  _ Probably because you’re the most important person to me _ , he thought. “Must have hit my head pretty hard then”.

 

“Maybe, wasn’t your fault though”.

 

“Hope I didn’t embarrass you”.

 

Scorpius looked down at his best friend. Embarrass him? Absolutely not. He may have been a little confused but overall he was actually pretty happy. In that moment and in this one. “Of course not” he said. “So what did your sister mean by ‘finally’ asking me out?”.

 

“Huh?” Albus muttered, “Oh that”.

 

“Yeah, that”.

 

“Um, it was just a joke I guess” he stammered.

  
_ Do you have a crush on me, Albus Potter?  _ “Maybe there’s a lot more people that though we were already together than we expected” Scorpius offered.

 

“Probably”.

 

“Have I upset you?”. Albus was avoiding looking at him and he wondered if he’d overstepped. “Am I overwhelming you?” he asked, pulling away just slightly.

 

“No, no. You’re fine” Albus looked up and offered him a smile. “This is just different is all”. 

 

“Good different or bad different?”.

 

“Good different”. Definitely good different. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The banter between the Potter siblings/cousins (+ Scorpius) is what I live for. It was so cruelly torn from us in TCC which, personally I think was a horrible decision. But anyways, thank you all for reading this. It means so so much to me :')
> 
> Until next time!


	8. Real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! It's so nice to see people enjoying this so far. Really, I'm very emotional about it. This chapter features some quidditch, a bit of fluff and Rose and James being amazing tbh. (I'm not going to lie to you and say that James Sirius Potter isn't one of my favourite people). I hope you like it!

The crowd cheered loudly as the two teams made their way onto the field. Albus almost felt bad for Ravenclaw since there seemed to be more general support for Hufflepuff, even though what happened to Albus wasn’t the team’s fault at all. They were off to quite a rough start to the season and their new seeker looked very aware of that and almost terrified. His eyes scanned over the two teams slowly. Hufflepuff definitely seemed to be the more confident of the two but both teams looked ready to give the game everything they had. Albus leaned over slightly so he could talk to his cousin. 

 

“Enjoying yourself?” he asked Rose. Her eyes were not-so-subtly trained on the Hufflepuff seeker.

 

“I am” she smirked. “Are you?”.

 

“It feels so real” he replied quietly. “Don’t tell him that” he added.

 

“Your secret’s safe with me” she smiled. “You two look adorable”.

 

“Well, he is isn’t he?”.

 

“Of course you would say that” she laughed.

 

“Don’t act like it isn’t the truth” Albus replied, blushing just slightly.

 

“He’s not really my type” Rose winked, “but I can tell he’s definitely yours”.

 

“I don’t have a type” he defended.

 

“I know, Al. I’m just messing with you” she beamed. 

 

Madam Hooch blew the whistle and the game began. The crowd erupted as the two teams began flying all over the pitch. Ravenclaw managed to snag an early lead but Hufflepuff were right on their tail feathers. Hufflepuff were always very strong on their defence but Ravenclaw must have anticipated that and trained to overcome it. They were definitely well matched teams. 

 

Albus leaned into Scorpius just slightly. He was trying not to think about how perfect this entire thing was. He didn’t really want to think about that because he knew this was all fake, whether he had real feelings or not. This would never be something  _ really real _ . And the more he focused on those thoughts the more upset they made him, so instead he tried to get lost in the moment.

 

“You ok?” Scorpius asked, eyes flicking between the game and Albus. 

 

“Is this weird for you?” he asked, watching as a Ravenclaw beater sent a bludger towards the Hufflepuff player holding the quaffle. 

 

“No, actually” he muttered. It wasn’t actually weird at all. It somehow felt … natural and as Albus smiled up at him again a thought crossed his mind.  _ I could kiss him right now, in front of everyone _ , he thought. But that would be ridiculous, Albus had already made his feeling about that very clear and they’d made boundaries. And there were so many people around. But as Scorpius returned his smile he found himself thinking about what it would feel like to kiss his best friend. Scorpius caught Rose’s eye as Albus turned his attention back to the game. She smirked at him and he found himself wondering if she could read minds, because that was definitely one of her knowing smirks. 

 

Rose focused back on the game just as a streak of gold made its way onto the field.

 

“Snitch” Rose and Albus said at the same time.

 

“It’s so creepy how you two do that” Scorpius laughed.

 

The Hufflepuff seeker seemed to see it first, surging towards it automatically. The Ravenclaw seeker realised what was happening once he noticed what she was doing and followed after her, trying to quickly catch up. The snitch weaved its way around the pitch, between players and the goalposts almost dangerously but the two seekers followed close behind it. The Hufflepuff seeker then seemed to split away from it, a strange tactile decision that intrigued and confused the crowd. 

 

“What is she doing?” Lily gasped, the flag in her hand stilling in stock. 

 

The snitch swerved, avoiding a few players and then landed straight into the hands of the Hufflepuff seeker. She held it up triumphantly.

 

“How did she know it would do that?” Hugo asked as the crowd cheered loudly. “How did she know where it would go?”.

 

“I’ve never seen someone do that before” Albus muttered. 

 

“Erica Stone has caught the snitch! Hufflepuff wins!” the announcer called.

 

The crowd erupted ever louder and the players quickly landed back on the ground. The Hufflepuff team were completely overjoyed, almost tackling their seeker in a group hug. The Ravenclaw captain pulled their seeker into a tight hug, trying to comfort him. 

 

Albus leaned over towards his cousin. “Erica is a nice name” he said to her.

 

“A lovely name for a lovely girl” she beamed, watching the Hufflepuff team somehow proudly. 

 

“Gay” he smirked, laughing.

 

“Says the boys literally in the arms of another boy right now” she nudged him. 

 

“Touche”.

 

“You should talk to her” Scorpius smiled over at the two of them. “You know, congratulate her on the game”.

 

“She won’t want to talk to me. I’m technically the enemy” Rose reminded them.

 

“Yes but you’re Rose Granger-Weasley” Albus beamed. “You’re badass”.

 

“I can’t fault you there” she mused. Rose paused for a moment, eyes flicking between her friends and the Hufflepuff players still on the field. “I’ll consider it” she said after a moment.

 

“Good”.

 

….

 

Once the players had left the field the crowd started dispersing slowly. There was mutters of people making their way off to Hogsmeade for the rest of the afternoon as was tradition after a quidditch game but Albus, Scorpius and Rose decided to just head back to the castle instead. Scorpius had one arm wrapped around Albus’ shoulders and Albus had an arm wrapped around Scorpius’ waist. There were more whispers as the three of them walked away from the majority of the crowd. Albus found himself far too happy to really care.

 

….

 

Albus and Scorpius had taken over one of the tables in the Slytherin common room for the evening. Albus still had about a paragraph of his essay left and Scorpius was helping him go over it. Occasionally there would be eyes on them but they were trying not to let it bother them. Most people had probably seen them together at the quidditch game and Hogwarts students were always thirsty for the latest gossip so they would latch onto that and spread it like crazy. 

 

“So you want to be looking at pages 394-95 for the answer to that” Scorpius was saying.

 

Albus flicked through the textbook until he found what he was looking for. “Maybe you should be a teacher and start teaching this subject” he joked. 

 

“I don’t know if I could do that. Might not have the patience”.

 

“You have more patience than anyone else I know” Albus smiled at him.

 

Scorpius laughed at that. “Maybe when it counts but I’m not really fond of dealing with … people, I guess”.

 

“Can’t blame you” Albus replied.

 

“You were great today” Scorpius looked up at Albus again. “I mean, you did great. It wasn’t too much for you was it?”.

 

Albus looked over at Scorpius. He was smiling and perfect and Albus wanted to do a couple of things right then and there but he settled for slowly tangling their fingers together on top of the table and hoped that that wasn’t overstepping. “No, it was nice” he replied. It was way more than nice but he didn’t have the words without giving away what he was truly feeling. 

 

Scorpius looked down at their hands. There was no need for them to be doing this right now. They didn’t need to pretend at this point of the day and yet he had no desire to pull away from Albus. In fact, he was suddenly aware there was a lot of distance between them and he wanted to be so much closer. However terrifying that was to admit.

 

“You were great too” Albus said quietly, almost more to himself than to Scorpius. “You’ve always been great”.

 

“I’m so glad I met you” Scorpius looked up at him. “I don’t even what to think about what my life would be like if you weren’t my best friend”. 

 

Albus’ heart was beating really heavily in his chest, and a lot faster than usual.  _ Best friend _ is what Scorpius had said but they seemed to be blurring the line between friends and more and Albus wasn’t sure how he felt about it. At least, he was excited and nervous and terrified all at once and he wasn’t sure how to distinguish any of those emotions of each other. And he wanted so desperately to be somehow closer to Scorpius, even just a little. “I’m so glad I met you as well” he said.

 

There was a cheer from the other side of the common room. A huge group of the other students had set up a game of exploding snap which had seemed to just come to an end. Albus and Scorpius pulled away from each other automatically, even if they had no reason too. Either way they’d been brought back down to earth from whatever cloud they’d found themselves on, crashing back so cruelly into reality. 

 

_ Rose, I’m in trouble _ , Albus thought. 

 

…

 

Albus didn’t have all of his classes with his friends, as sad as that was. Somehow this year he’d found himself in a different charms class to everyone else, much to his disappointment. Albus didn’t have many other friends in his year, only a few acquaintances so he’d found himself at a slightly difficult position at the start of the year in terms of where he was going to sit. He’d only really ever sat next to Scorpius or Rose so he was quite happy to sit by himself, less distractions that way. As Albus made his way into his charms class he felt the every person already in the room look up at him. At least a dozen pairs of eyes. He didn’t like being the center of attention, never had, so he tried his best to ignore them as he made his way over to his desk.

 

“So is it true, Potter?” a boy asked him, standing purposely in his way. “That you’re dating Malfoy?”

 

_ I wish _ , he thought. “What’s it to you?” he asked, slightly proud of himself because that sounded like sometimes James would say in the situation.

 

“I saw you at the quidditch game yesterday being all cuddly and shit” the boy shrugged. “Was just curious”.

 

“It’s true” Albus replied. 

 

The room broke out into whispers and Albus found himself wanting to disappear. 

 

“Good on you, Potter” the boy patted him on the shoulder and moved out of his way.

 

Albus took his seat just as Professor Flitwick made his way into the room. He silenced the class and Albus sighed in relief. He set up his parchment and quill quickly and waited until he had to start taking notes. 

 

….

 

Albus was one of the first to leave his class. The second they were dismissed he rushed quickly from the room in search of Scorpius. Or even Rose, just someone that wasn’t giving him second looks and breaking out into whispers as he walked passed. He was more than happy when he saw Scorpius making his way down the hallway towards him. 

 

“Scorp, everyone was looking at me and whispering and someone asked if we were dating and I said yes and I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that” Albus rushed when he reached him.

 

“Al, for all intents and purposes at the moment we  _ are  _ technically dating so you didn’t lie or anything” Scorpius smiled at him. 

 

“I should really be used to attention by now shouldn’t I?”.

 

Scorpius took his hand slowly. “This is a different kind of attention, I guess” he replied.

 

“For a much different reason” Albus added.

 

Scorpius looked up at him again, smiling. “Ready for DADA?”.

 

“Always” Albus laughed.

 

“I’ll be with you the whole time so you don’t have to worry about anything, ok?”. The two of them started walking in the direction of their next class, still holding hands. Scorpius caught the eye of a few smiling and whispering girls and wondered briefly what they were saying.

 

“Maybe I should let you do the talking this time” he smirked.

 

Scorpius shrugged. “I don’t think it matters either way really. If it makes you feel any better everyone seems to be genuinely excited that we’re allegedly dating”.

 

“I don’t quite know how that makes me feel actually” Albus admitted. Of course it was good to have everyone’s support but this wouldn’t last forever and what would happen when the two of them went back to just being best friends? He didn’t even want to think about that. He thought that he’d rather just live with the fantasy that this would somehow become real. Regardless of how unlikely that was.

 

“It’s interesting how people see us isn’t it?” he mused.

 

“Ah, but all that truly matters is how we see ourselves” Albus joked.

 

“Dork”.

 

As the two of them entered the classroom everything seemed to stop around them. Scorpius paused in the doorway and looked over at Albus only to see that he was trying not to laugh. 

 

“Everyone alright? You look like you’ve never seen a person before” Scorpius smirked, leading Albus to their usual table.

 

“So it’s true then?” someone asked them. 

 

Scorpius looked up to see a Gryffindor boy looking over at the two of them. “Is what true?”.

 

“That you two are dating?” the boy asked.

 

“Oh that” Scorpius beamed, “yeah it’s true”. He looked over at Albus who was smirking as he set up his parchment and quill quietly.

 

“Alright! Half the people in this room owe me 3 gallons, you better pay up!” the boy called.

 

The Professor walked in and silenced the class quickly before quickly beginning the lesson. The class didn’t seem to silence entirely as there was the slow, methodical progression of quietly passing money around the room to its new rightful owners. Apparently more than one person had made bets. Scorpius looked over at Albus and saw that he was trying to hide the fact that he was silently laughing. 

 

“You ok?” he whispered, amused.

 

“Can you believe that people placed bets on us?” Albus whispered back, a look of elated surprise on his face.

 

“Seems we’re a popular concept” he shrugged. Scorpius didn’t quite want to think about what it was about the two of them made people believe that they would somehow be the perfect couple. He didn’t even want to think about how, even though it was fake, they somehow  _ were  _ the perfect couple. The idea of dating Albus had only been a recent addition to his thoughts. At least, he would like to see it that way, since he truly had no idea when it started.

 

“Maybe we should have done this earlier, since we’re making everyone so much money” Albus smirked. 

 

….

 

Rose was steadily making her way to her next class. At least half a dozen people had already asked her about the relationship status of her two best friends and she’d found that she actually enjoyed confirming people’s suspicions. It was probably because most people were overjoyed that they were  _ finally  _ together. It was kind of nice to know that other people were holding out for the same outcome she was. 

 

“Rosey!” she heard a distinct voice behind her.

 

Rose turned to face her cousin, beaming at him.

 

“The castle is full of gossip and I am so ALIVE” he called to her, making his way around a group of shocked first years to reach her. “It’s so nice to know that our plan has worked out so well this far” he added.

 

“James, it’s been three days” she rolled her eyes at him playfully.

 

“Yes but when you’ve had feelings aging like fine wine then three days is but a moment in time, my dear cousin” he patted the top of her head teasingly.

 

“I’m not going to deny that but I just hope that the second half of our plan is working” she replied, a hand automatically checking on her hair.

 

“They were delightfully cuddly at the quidditch game yesterday” James mused.

 

“They were keeping up an image” she reminded.

 

“Are you trying to tell me the way they were making eyes at each other was solely for an image? Because I would have to say that I completely and utterly disagree with that”.

 

Rose thought about that for a moment. “I’m worried” she admitted.

 

“Why’s that?” James asked, confusion clouding his expression.

 

“Al is already in love with him. He’s going to realise and panic” she explained.

 

“You’re right” James muttered. “That is a little concerning”.

 

“I don’t know when it’ll be, but it’ll probably makes things a little messy. You know how he is when he panics”.

 

James nodded, his face turning solemn. “Maybe Scorpius will realise his feelings at the same time” he offered.

 

“I hope so” Rose said.

 

“Either way you have the pleasure of both sides of the story” James smiled again, just a little teasing.

 

“I’ll give you updates” she smirked.

 

“I expect nothing less” he returned her smirk. “Either way we’ve both got to get to class. You better hurry”.

 

“If I’m late I’m blaming you” she replied, taking off down the hallway quickly.

 

“I welcome all inconveniences!” he called after her. 

  
Rose shook her head to herself, laughing. It was such a shame that she had more than one idiot cousin. Such a shame indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on Rose having a love interest? I think it's cute, and I didn't want her to be left out, you know? There's a lot of romancey stuff happening around her and I thought I'd give her some of that too. I hope it's not too weird?   
> Anyways, I'll probably post the next chapter on Monday. I think Monday and Friday seems like a good schedule at the moment. Until next time! I hope you all enjoy your week <3


	9. Courage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday! We're officially over the half way mark of this fic which for me is quite exciting. This fic currently stands as the longest piece of writing I've sustained and managed to finish, which is quite a feat (I can never finish things usually tbh).   
> This chapter features some panicky nerds (Albus in particular), Rose being an amazing best friend and James being a love guru again because why not. I hope you all like it!

It was only a week until Halloween and yet as Albus, Scorpius and Rose walked across the grounds of Hogwarts they barely heard anyone mention it. Just a few days before they’d heard multiple groups of people discussing costumes and trick or treating but now the gossip seemed to revolve around something else entirely. As a group of girls looked over at the three of them and then turned away giggling, Albus decided to comment on the change.

 

“I really don’t know how I feel about being the talk of the school” he said. 

 

Scorpius looked down at their joined hands for a moment before looking up at his best friend. “If you need some space then that’s ok” he offered.

 

Space was the exact opposite of what Albus wanted, he re-decided that every time he was in Scorpius’ presence. 

 

“It’s not the first time it’s happened, Al” Rose reminded, smiling at the two of them.

 

“I know. I’m so used to people talking about Halloween at this time. I guess it’s just a little strange” he shrugged.

 

“Can you believe that we’ve somehow managed to distract the entire school from thinking about one of their favourite holidays?” Scorpius smirked.

 

“I’d be more surprised if you didn’t actually” Rose laughed. 

 

Scorpius paused for a moment, causing the other two to stop next to him. He seemed to be deep in thought. “You know things” he said to Rose.

 

“I do know more than one thing, yes” she admitted. 

 

“People have bets on us” Scorpius continued, his free hand indicating himself and Albus. “How long has that been happening?”.

 

“Let me just search back into the depths of my memory” she joked. “Probably since about third year”.

 

“Third year?” Albus asked, a little shocked. 

 

“People have bet actual money on us for two whole years?” Scorpius added.

 

Rose shrugged. “Why are you so surprised?”.

 

Albus thought over it all for a moment. Two years. People had placed literal money on the two of them getting together for two whole years. People had that much faith in the two of them. A thousand thoughts travelled through his mind all that once. How had they known how he felt? Was he too obvious? Could they sense it? Was it inevitable? Had he even felt that way about Scorpius for the past two years? Of course he had, this was Scorpius. They’d been pulled together by some sort of amazing fate and magnetic attraction. A part of him had felt this way about Scorpius since they’d met. Maybe even longer. Maybe since the beginning of time. Albus had no way of knowing. But as he looked over his best friend he knew one thing and as his thoughts caught up with him, the panic settled in. This was all supposed to be fake. Whether he had real feelings or not, Scorpius could never know that. To compromise their friendship would destroy Albus. He would never risk that. He’d rather die. Albus let go of Scorpius’ hand slowly, even if was the one thing that was grounding him.

 

“I’m sorry, I just need a minute” he whispered, not looking at either of them.

 

Rose moved automatically. She placed her hands gently on her cousin’s shoulders and looked at him intently. “Albus, look at me” she said. 

 

Albus looked up at her. One of his hands slinked around her wrists absently as if holding her there would help ground him.

 

“What people say about you does not reflect you. It does not reflect how you think or how you feel. It’s all assumptions. No one really knows you” Rose said. She kept her voice steady and focused. She could see the panic in Albus’ eyes spiralling out of control and she wouldn’t let it take him as she’d seen it do so many times before.

 

“Did I do something wrong?” Scorpius asked quietly. He’d seen Albus panic before and he wasn’t nearly as good at helping him as Rose was but he didn’t quite understand what was happening or what caused it.

 

“You’re here, Albus. You’re safe. We’re right here with you, ok? Just me and Scorpius”. 

 

The look in his eyes told her exactly how he felt about that.  _ Scorpius is the reason for all this. _

 

“I know, I know” she said gently.

 

_ How long have you known? _

 

“It’s been a while” she admitted.

 

_ Am I obvious? _

 

“Only to me, but that’s because I know you very well” she reassured.

_ I love him, don’t I? _

 

“Yes”.

 

Albus panicked at that, just slightly. It made sense, that he loved Scorpius. The was no sense without Scorpius. 

 

“Al, look at me” Rose repeated. “It’s ok”.

 

Albus looked up at her again. He felt a little dizzy, his brain was spinning through too many thoughts all at once. He nodded to her and she gave him a smile. Albus let go of her wrist and she pulled away. 

 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Scorpius asked. “I mean, I know Rose is always better at calming you down but do you need some space or anything? I can go back to the castle if you want. I’m not really sure what you need me to do” he rushed, pulling at the sleeves of his robes nervously.

 

Albus looked over at his best friend. He almost laughed at how lost he looked. He took a step towards Scorpius and pulled him into a hug. “This” he muttered, burying his head against Scorpius’ shoulder.

 

“This I can do” he smiled, hugging Albus back tightly. “Are you ok?” he asked.

 

“Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed, you know that” Albus explained.

 

“I know. Did I do something wrong?”.

 

“No, you’re perfect”.

 

“So are you” Scorpius replied, before he could stop himself. 

 

When Albus pulled away the two of them were blushing. Albus looked over at Rose to see she was giggling. She didn’t giggle often, it was a rare sight to see her in such a way. “You ok there, Rose?” Albus smirked at her.

 

“You shouldn’t be shocked that people had bets on the two of you when you do cute shit like that” she replied easily.

 

“Well you got us there” Scorpius replied, slinging an arm around Albus’ shoulders. 

 

“Maybe you two should date for real” she teased.

 

“Maybe you should ask the Hufflepuff seeker out” Albus retorted. 

 

“Maybe I will”.

 

“Good”.

 

The three of them burst into a fit of laughter. Surrounding students gave them strange looks, but that was something they were completely used to. 

 

“Come on you twats” Rose beamed. “We’re keeping Hagrid waiting”.

 

….

 

Autumn had truly settled in and the seemingly endless leaves crunched under their feet as the three of them walked back to the castle. The sun was starting to set and there was really no point being outside when it started to get cold. They’d decided that studying by the lake was a better idea than being in the library that day. Rose hadn’t even protested. She needed a change of scenery since she practically lived in the library most days now. The three of them held their books tightly against them as the wind turned colder and the rest of the students started making their way back to the castle as well. The closer it got to Halloween the more they heard talk about costumes and pumpkin pie. The plans to trick or treat in Hogsmeade were confirmed. Professor McGonagall and a few other teachers would accompany the students that wanted to go to the village, and possibly even another few villages depending on how many students wanted to take part. The first and second years showed the most interest but Halloween was a favourite amongst many of the years.

 

“So are we doing anything for Halloween?” Rose asked. They’d made it to the castle, pausing in the entryway because they would have to part ways soon to go back to their separate common rooms. 

 

“You know how I feel about Halloween” Scorpius shrugged. It wasn’t a favourite to him by any means. His father had a horrible relationship with Halloween and the holiday often made him feel like a monster. So Scorpius chose to avoid it as much as he could. 

 

“I’m not too fond of it either” Albus admitted. Every year he was reminded of the time a group of teenagers knocked on his front door dressed as death eaters. His father had had a panic attack and even though Albus was too young to truly understand what was happening at the time the memory had stuck with him forever. 

 

“No trick or treating then?” Rose asked. She had a very indifferent relationship with Halloween, having not really celebrated it because her two friends weren’t on the best terms with it. 

 

“I guess I could go dressed as my hero, Harry Potter” Albus smirked.

 

“That would be interesting since you do share a striking resemblance to him” Scorpius laughed. 

 

“People keep telling me I remind them of a young Harry Potter. I wonder why that is” he teased.

 

“I can’t believe I’m related to such an idiot” Rose smirked.

 

“You love me” Albus defended.

  
“Families are supposed to love each other”.

 

“Tell that to my family” Scorpius muttered.

 

“Hey, just because you come from a long line of pieces of shit doesn’t mean you have to take after that as well” Albus said, turning to Scorpius. 

 

He smiled at that. “You’re sweet” he said.

  
“So are you” Albus replied.

 

“I’m going to be sick” Rose whispered.

 

“Too gay for you?” Albus joked. “Gotta keep up that image you know”.

 

“Speaking of gay, when are you going to ask the Hufflepuff seeker out?” Scorpius asked, turning his attention to Rose.

 

“Erica” she reminded.

 

“When are you going to ask  _ Erica  _ out?” Albus pushed.

 

Rose blushed and looked away from the two of them. “Um” she muttered, “I’m not really sure”.

 

“I’m sure James could give you some advice” he shrugged. “I’m not good with all that stuff”.

 

Rose laughed at that. “You sure? You’ve appeared to be good at it for a few weeks now”.

 

“The key word in that sentence is ‘appeared’” he reminded her. 

 

“In other words you have no idea what you’re doing” Rose said.

 

“Precisely”.

 

“Alice is taking it well, in case you were wondering” Rose shrugged. “Took her a few days to ask me if it was true but once I confirmed it she seemed to move on with her life”.

 

“Seems all our hard work has paid off” Albus joked.

 

“Ah yes, because holding hands is such a hard job” she teased.

 

“Maybe if you manage to ask Erica out you’ll be able to answer that for yourself” Scorpius replied.

 

“You two are the worst” she sighed.

 

“You love us” Scorpius reminded.

 

“Deeply, but that doesn’t mean I can’t think you’re absolute jerks as well”.

 

“You should start heading up to the Gryffindor Tower before your arms give out from holding all those books” Albus smiled at her.

 

“The more you carry heavy books, the easier it is” she replied.

 

“You must have amazing arm strength”.

 

“Maybe that’ll convince Erica to go out with me”.

 

‘We can only hope” Scorpius teased. 

 

“Bye boys” she rolled her eyes.

 

“Bye Rose” they said together.

 

Rose headed off in the direction of the staircases, or least, where they should be. It really depended how much they wanted to move around that day. Albus and Scorpius started down the hallways that lead to the Slytherin Dungeon. Albus was thinking about what Rose had said about Alice. The two of them had started fake dating so that she would avoid her feelings for Scorpius. Now that she was over him did that mean that they stopped? Surely someone could gain feelings as easy as they lost them. Did that mean they had to continue fake dating until they were sure that Alice was completely over Scorpius? Maybe until she was dating someone else? Albus had no idea how long that would be, if it happened. The more he thought about the idea of them going back to just being best friends, the more Albus realised that that wasn’t what he wanted at all. He wanted to be more than friends. He wanted to be where they were now, dating. Except, he wanted it to be real. He wanted that so desperately that it confused and concerned him. And as Albus looked across at Scorpius he found himself wondering if he felt the same. 

 

“Scorp?” Albus asked. A comfortable silence had fallen between the two of them, which usually happened when they traversed the castle. 

 

“Al?” Scorpius replied automatically.

 

“How long do you think we have to keep this up?”.

 

“What do you mean?” Scorpius looked over at him. 

 

“I mean, if Alice is already over her crush on you, then do we stop fake dating or do we continue?” he posed. 

 

Scorpius thought about that question for a moment. People could probably get multiple crushes on the same person at different times, so maybe it would best if they did keep it up. Or was it too much for Albus? Did he want it to end already? “I don’t know” he answered.

 

“Maybe we should ask Rose next time we see her” Albus shrugged. “She’d know better”.

 

“Probably a good idea” Scorpius replied. There was only one thing that he knew about all of this. He never wanted to stop dating Albus Potter.

 

….

 

There were few things that Rose never really did. One of the was go to James Potter for advice, regardless of how helpful he could be at times. But Rose had found herself at a loss of people to go to. Even though she had a number of friends and acquaintances in Gryffindor she was never really entirely sure if any of them could truly keep a secret. The only person she knew that could do that, besides Albus and Scorpius, was James. So somehow Rose had found herself wandering over to the corner of the common room where James and his friends had set up an interesting game of exploding snap. For some reason the game was incredibly popular at the moment. She never really understood why.

 

“James?” she asked.

 

“Rosey!” he beamed up at her. “Come to join the game?”.

 

“No, actually I need to talk to you” she muttered.

 

“Feeding off my expert advice again, are you?”.

 

“Maybe”.

 

“Excuse me boys” he addressed his friends, “a client has appeared”.

 

Rose lead her cousin all the way out of the common room and into the hallway again. There weren’t many students out at this time and there were plenty in the common room so they would have more privacy out here. 

 

“You know, this feels eerily familiar” James joked. 

 

“I don’t often come to you for advice” Rose started, “but I think you’re the only one I can trust with this”.

 

“Well Rosey, you’ve definitely sparked my interest” he replied.

 

Rose took a deep breath. She’d tried a million different ways to word this question in her head but it seemed to be that the easiest was the most straightforward one. “How do I ask Erica out?” she muttered.

 

“The Hufflepuff seeker?” James beamed at her.

 

“Yes, the Hufflepuff seeker”.

 

“Well, you have definitely come to the right place” he rubbed his hands together excitedly. 

 

Rose rolled her eyes at him. 

 

“What do you have in mind? Big romantic gesture? Halloween themed date idea?” he asked.

 

“Nothing lavish” she replied. “Maybe something sweet. I’m not quite sure how to talk to her” she admitted.

 

“Have you even spoken to her?”.

 

“Not in so many words” she muttered.

 

“Well Rosey, it’ll help if you at least speak to her a few times first” James reminded.

  
“Would you like me to repeat the part where I said I don’t know how to talk to her?”.

 

James smiled at her fondly. “Rosey, sometimes you just need a little bit of courage” he said.

 

“I don’t seem to have any of that” she replied.

  
“You’re Rose Granger-Weasley. That alone should be enough”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes from me on this fic. Some of you are saying this is unrealistic, which to me is quite comical because that seems to stem from the sexuality of the characters. So to that I say, don't assume because these characters have same-sex love interests that they're "gay", because they're not. At this point in time I only really headcannon Rose as "gay" but truly that could be fluid. Also, LGBTQ+ people clump together, so having an entire friendship circle of them isn't uncommon (trust me, I know). Also, guys, this is a fanfic. Realism isn't really the point of this, you know? It's just an expression of my personal feels towards these characters.   
> Either way the response to this still seems to be quite positive which is really nice so thank you all. I'll see you later this week for the next chapter! :)


	10. Chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a reason I'm posting this early and that reason is that I have three unfinished assignments to work on and I'd rather pop this up here now so I can focus on those for the moment. After that though, I will be finished my first year of uni which is crazy.   
> Anyways, this chapter is about Realising Things™. I hope you all like it!

The Great Hall was host to an army of enchanted, floating pumpkins. The Halloween feast was a tradition at Hogwarts and it was the reason that so many students looked forward to the holiday. Food was always something to celebrate. Technically everyone was supposed to sit at their house tables but as the feast wore on a lots of the students moved around. Rose came and sat on Albus’ left to be with her two friends. Scorpius had an arm lazily slung around Albus’ waist and she smirked as she sat down.

 

“Enjoying yourselves?” she asked them.

 

“I always enjoy food” Scorpius replied, slowly piling more bread onto his plate.

 

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough of that?” Albus asked him.

 

“There’s always time for more bread”.

 

Albus rolled his eyes at him. “I’m doing ok, Rose. How are you?” he turned to address his cousin.

 

“So I’m considering dropping by the Hufflepuff table but there’s so many people there” she explained.

 

“Still trying to get Erica’s attention?” Albus asked.

 

“Oh, you have her attention she keeps looking over this way now that you’re here” Scorpius mused. 

 

“Really?” Rose looked over at the Hufflepuff table and just managed to catch Erica’s eye. She smiled at her and the other girl smiled back before looking back at her friends. “Oh, I am not prepared for this” she muttered.

 

“She seems to be interested in you already” Albus said. “Maybe she’ll actually say yes if you ask her out”.

 

“You might want to have an actual conversation with her first, you know” Scorpius smirked.

 

“That’s exactly what James said” she sighed.

 

“So you did go to James for help?” Albus beamed.

 

“Who else did I have?”.

 

“Good point”.

 

“Maybe you can get her to come over here somehow?” Scorpius offered.

 

“And how would I do that?” Rose asked.

 

“I’m not really sure but it seemed like a good enough suggestion” he muttered.

 

“I’m at a loss” she replied, dropping her head into her hands. “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing”.

 

“Join the club” Albus shrugged.

 

“Hey, you can’t complain you literally have Scorp’s arm around you right now” she reminded, looking up at him again and shoving him slightly.

 

“That’s not my doing” he reminded.

 

Rose huffed, “You two are no help at all”.

 

“When you befriended two social recluses what did you expect?” Scorpius laughed. 

 

“I don’t know?” Rose admitted. “I didn’t expect to feel this way about someone” she glanced over at the Hufflepuff table for a moment”.

 

“Me neither” Albus muttered. “I mean” he stuttered, “I didn’t expect you to”.  _ Nice recovery, dumbass,  _ he thought.

 

“I honestly didn’t expect you to be the first one out of us to like someone” Scorpius shrugged.

 

Albus’ heart stopped for the briefest moment as his brain registered that sentence.  _ The first one out of us _ . Scorpius didn’t like him at all. Albus wanted to disappear again. 

 

“Pffft” Rose smirked. She looked over at the two of them, noticing the hurt in Albus’ eyes immediately.  _ Oh no _ , she thought. “Maybe I should just go for it” she said.

 

“I think you should” Scorpius replied.

 

“What will I say?” she asked.

 

“Talk about quidditch. It’s something you have in common” he shrugged again.

 

“Why are her friends leaving?” Albus asked, looking up at the Hufflepuff table and then down at his plate again.

 

“Huh?” Rose muttered. Erica was sitting with three friends. Two of them were getting up and started making their way out of the Great Hall, probably to get to the bathroom. The other got up and went and sat at the Ravenclaw table with some other girls that seemed happy to have her. 

 

“Now’s your chance” Scorpius said, nudging Rose with his hand absently. 

  
“Holy shit” she breathed.

 

“Do it” Albus encouraged, smiling at her just a little. 

 

‘“I’m gonna do it” she muttered, standing quickly. 

 

Albus gave her one last shove and then Rose started making her way across the room. She walked around the Slytherin table and slowly towards the Hufflepuff table where Erica was sitting. She seemed to be trying to act casual but she looked just a tad nervous. The two boys watched as Rose reached Erica and took a seat next to her. The two of them started talking, both of them smiling at each other. After a few minutes Rose ran a hand through her hair and managed to give them a very subtle thumbs up. 

 

“Wow she actually managed to do it” Scorpius muttered, impressed.

 

“Rose and James have always been the courageous ones” Albus shrugged. “Actually come to think of Hugo and Lily are courageous too”.

 

“Seems all the Potters and Granger-Weasleys are courageous then” he smiled.

 

“Not me” he muttered.

 

“Of course you” Scorpius looked at his best friend. “You risked how everyone sees you just to help me out with a girl problem. I think that’s pretty courageous”. 

 

_ I’m not courageous enough to tell you how I feel _ , he thought. “I’d help you out with anything, you know that” Albus replied.

 

“How is that not courageous? You’d do anything for your friends?”.

 

_ Friends _ , his mind repeated automatically. “I think that’s loyalty not bravery” he said.

 

“You know I always thought you would be first” Scorpius said quietly, his eyes glancing over to Hufflepuff table again for a second. 

 

“What do you mean?” Albus asked.

 

“The first of us to get a girlfriend” he clarified, looking back over at the boy next to him.

 

“Me? What made you think that?”.

 

“There’s just always been something about you” he shrugged, locking eyes with him. “I didn’t think it would take long for someone to see that”.

 

“Usually when people look at me they just see my father so there’s a flaw in your logic there” he said. 

 

“I really wish people would see you as you are” Scorpius replied. 

 

Albus looked up at his best friend and wanted so desperately to tell him right then and there how he felt. There was something in Scorpius’ eyes that told him there might just be the slightest chance that he felt something for him too. But that was so very unlikely that Albus had to try and pull away from those thoughts. Scorpius had no romantic feelings for him at all. That much had been made clear. Nothing that he could do or say would change that and maybe that was for the better anyway. Scorpius deserved far better than what he could give him anyway.  _ I love you _ , he thought.

 

“I always thought it would be you” Albus said. He shrugged and tried to make it seem casual, as if his heart wasn’t twisting painfully inside him.

 

“Me? That’s comical” Scorpius smiled. “When girls look at me they usually think I’m going to cast some spell on them using dark magic”.

 

“You’re so much more than that” Albus replied. 

 

The two of them looked at each other for a moment. Albus wanted so desperately to believe that Scorpius was  _ really  _ looking at him like that, but he knew it was all just an act. Every single moment that happened between them had to be an act for this whole thing to work. No one could be able to suspect that they were faking it. Or at least, that Scorpius was faking it. Albus would never know what it was like to do that. He could never fake it when he felt it so deeply already. 

 

...

 

“I can’t believe I really did that” Rose beamed at the two of them, sitting down across from them. It was getting late and a lot of the students heading to Hogsmeade were starting to make their way back to their common rooms to get changed into their costumes, so the Great Hall was emptying out slowly. 

 

“Over pretty quickly?” Scorpius looked over at her.

 

“Her friends came back so I thought I better leave them to their own devices” she shrugged. 

 

“Part of being in a relationship with someone means getting to know their friends too” he smirked at her. 

 

“Well yes but we’re nowhere near that stage yet. I’ve literally spoken to her once” Rose reminded. 

 

“You’ve got to keep that momentum going. You should talk to her again tomorrow” Scorpius teased.

 

Rose looked over at her cousin. Albus hadn’t spoken a word since she sat down again. He looked quite sad and a little lost and he was gazing over in the direction of the doors as if he wished he could leave. “Al, are you ok?” she asked tentatively. 

 

“You two don’t mind if I go talk to my brother for a bit do you?” Albus asked, looking between the two of them. He’d spotted James who was making his way towards the double doors at the end of the Great Hall and he really needed a word with him. Or a few. 

 

“Of course not” she replied automatically.

 

“Thank you. I’ll see you two later” Albus smiled at the two of them. He was so focused on catching up to James he didn’t even notice that he kissed Scorpius on the cheek as he got up.

 

“That was new” Scorpius muttered, a hand flying up to his cheek absently. 

 

“I don’t think he realised that he did it” Rose mused. Her eyes following her cousin as he rushed towards the doors. 

 

“Wasn’t unwelcome though” he continued.

 

Rose looked over at her friend, almost assessing him quietly. “Scorp, I think we need to have a serious conversation” she said. 

 

….

 

“James!” Albus called, chasing after his brother. His footsteps echoed in the mostly empty entryway to Hogwarts.

 

James and his friends stopped in their tracks and waited for the younger boy to catch up.

 

“Hey Albus” James beamed at him. 

 

“I need to talk to you” he replied. “I’m in trouble”.

 

“Real trouble or boy trouble?”.

 

“Boy trouble” Albus confirmed. 

 

“I’ll catch up with you guys later ok?” James turned to his friends. “Baby brother needs me”.

 

The group nodded and headed off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. James followed Albus a little bit down a hallway so they were away from the stream of students slowly making their way from the Great Hall to their common rooms. 

 

“What’s wrong?” James asked. He could clearly see how distressed his brother was.

 

“This is probably going to sound stupid to you and not really a big deal” Albus explained.

 

“If it’s your problem then it’s my problem too, ok?” James reminded.

 

He took a deep breath and prepared his sentence carefully. “I don’t think Scorpius feels the same way that I do” Albus said.

 

“What gives you that impression?” James asked, confused. He’d seen the way the two of them looked at each other, especially when the other wasn't looking. It definitely didn’t seem to be a one sided crush.

 

“He’s mentioned it a few times. Not explicitly but the way he talks about what we’re doing …” Albus paused, “I don’t really know. Sometimes it feels like he likes me and sometimes it doesn’t ”.

 

“Mixed signals?” he asked.

 

“I guess so” Albus shrugged. “James, I have no idea what I’m doing”.

 

_ Obviously you’re falling in love with him _ . “Here, I’ll let you in on a little secret” James said, “with the way that Scorpius looks at you, there’s no way he feels nothing”.

 

“You’re sure?”.

 

“Sure as sure can be”.

 

“What should I do?” Albus asked.

 

“You should probably start by telling him how you feel” he replied.

 

“That’s what dad said” Albus sighed.

 

“You owled dad about this?” James muttered.

 

“No. He came to visit me after the quidditch incident” Albus shrugged. “I really needed to talk”.

 

“You should owl Aunt Hermione, she would probably know better” James reminded. 

  
“Dad said that too”.

 

“They don’t call her the brightest witch of her age from nothing” James shrugged.

 

“I know. I’d just feel awkward writing everything in a letter” Albus sighed again and looked down at his feet.

 

“Not everything is easy” James said, “but some things are worth the struggle”.

 

“Scorpius is worth everything” Albus muttered.

 

“Well there’s your answer” James placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder and squeezed slightly. “You can take as long as you need but I don’t think waiting is doing you any favours”. 

 

“Thanks James” Albus replied. “Sometimes you’re not an awful brother”.

 

James laughed at that. “Such a high honor to be bestowed upon me” he joked.

 

“Go and be with your friends, I’m holding you up”.

 

“Hey, don’t even worry about it. You’re family” James smiled.

 

….

 

“A serious conversation? That’s a little intimidating” Scorpius said. He would be smirking but Rose legitimately looked serious and he was starting to wonder if he’d somehow done something wrong. He couldn’t think of anything off the top of his head but maybe there was something he’d missed. 

 

Rose leaned forward. The Great Hall might have been slowly emptying out there were still plenty of ears that could overhear them. “Do you have feelings for Albus?” she asked.

 

“You know I like Al” he replied quickly, not expecting her to be so forward.

 

“No, not platonic feelings” she sighed. “Romantic ones”.

 

Scorpius thought over the question for a moment. Did he have feelings for Albus? Maybe that would explain why he’d been trying not to think too hard into the situation they’d found themselves in. Or why he’d been nervous even asking Albus to go through all of this at all. Or maybe it would explain the why his heart seemed to stop beating for a moment whenever he saw Albus. Or the stupid butterflies in his stomach when Albus so much as looked at him. Maybe it would explain why he never felt like he was ever really close enough to Albus even if they were holding hands or had their arms around each other. Or why he occasionally thought about what it would be like to kiss him. Maybe it would explain a lot of things. Most importantly, maybe it would explain why over the last few weeks or so all he’d been able to do was think about Albus.

 

“Yes” Scorpius muttered weakly as he realised he still hadn’t given Rose an answer.

 

“Have you told him that yet?”. There was a particular tone in her voice that told him she already knew the answer.

 

“No” he admitted.

 

“Why haven’t you?”.

 

Scorpius looked up at her again and met her eyes. “I’m fucking terrified” he said.

 

“Why?” Rose asked, genuinely confused (and just slightly exasperated). 

 

“I’m just not really sure if I should risk it?”. It came out like a question, even if he hadn’t meant it to. 

 

Rose sighed to herself. “Scorpius, what is Al worth it you?”.

 

“Everything” he muttered.

 

“Does that sound worthy of the risk to you?” she looked at him. 

 

Scorpius thought about that for a moment. He had a lot to lose but it was possible that he had even more to gain. “Rose Granger-Weasley somehow you are always right” he said.

 

“Please tell that to everyone you know” she smirked at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, lying to myself: I'll just post this now so I can stop thinking about Scorbus.   
> Listen, I'm always thinking about Scorbus. It's horrible. They've both enhanced and ruined my life. Alas, I hope you all liked awkward first crush Rose and oblivious boys. Oh, and James being an A+ brother. I refuse to believe that the Potter siblings/cousins wouldn't be the most supportive family of all time. There'll be more of that next chapter.   
> I'll see you all soon!


	11. Assistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys ... 200 kudos? I'm crazy emotional right now. Thank you all so much!!!!!! I love every single one of you, oh gosh. Ok, here's the new chapter as a reward for being such nice, kind, good people. This chapter has a lot of supportive sibling interaction between Albus and Lily. I love every single Potter sibling so much so this fic was sure as hell going to feature them all. There's also some other stuff happening that I think you guys will be happy with. I hope you all enjoy it!!!

Albus spent the next three days locked in the Astronomy Tower whenever he wasn’t in class because he knew that that was the one place Scorpius wouldn’t know to look for him. He’d look everywhere else of course; The Great Hall, the library, the lake, the courtyard, the common room, the dorms, the owlery, Hogsmeade and even Hagrid’s hut. But he would never think to look in the Astronomy Tower. At least, Albus was hoping that he wouldn’t. He knew that it was wrong to hide from his best friend. He knew that Scorpius would worry about him. But Albus couldn’t bring himself to face him at the moment. It was getting to be too much for him, too overwhelming. Especially with how he felt. So he’d rather sit at the top of the Astronomy Tower and try to numb himself enough that he didn’t think about Scorpius, even if he was all that he ever thought about. 

 

On the third day Albus was curled up in a blanket. He had a small pile of books with him even if he wasn’t reading them. At least if someone found him he would have some kind of excuse to be up there. Albus had successfully zoned everything out when he heard the door rattle obnoxiously. He heard a muffled voice say “ _ Alohomora”  _ from the other side of the door and then in popped his sister. 

 

“I  _ knew  _ you would be up here” she said to him. “Rose said that Scorpius had looked everywhere for you and I asked her if he’d checked the Astronomy Tower and she said ‘no why would he check there?’ so I told her that’s where you would be and I was right” she rested her hands on her hips beaming proudly to herself, “but you don’t have to worry because I told her that I would come and talk to you instead”. Lily turned and locked the door again before walking over and sitting next to her brother. 

 

Albus draped the blanket he had around her shoulders automatically to keep her warm. WIth the weather getting colder there was a certain chill that seemed to overcome some areas of the castle.

 

“So now you’re going to tell me what’s wrong” she stated. “Why are you up here hiding from your boyfriend?”.

 

“He’s not my boyfriend” Albus muttered, as hard as that always was for him to say.

 

“Oh no, did you two break up?” she asked, placing a sympathetic hand on Albus’ shoulder absently. 

 

Albus shook his head slowly. Rose mustn’t have told her what had been happening over the last month or so. “We were never together. It was all fake so that some girl would stop having a crush on him” he explained, almost bitterly. 

 

“Alice?” Lily asked.

 

“Yeah. How did you know?”.

 

“She talked about him all the time” she shrugged, “Kind of reminded me of you when you’re at home”.

 

“Don’t” he muttered, staring down at the pile of books next to him and not at her. The top one of Scorpius’ and he didn’t realise until he’d gotten there, otherwise he would never have brought it. Somehow it had ended up in his trunk and he was pretty sure it was because Scorpius was secretly trying to convince him to read it.

 

“Talk to me” Lily said, “you know I’m a good listener”.

 

“I know” he confirmed.

 

“Then talk to me”.

 

Albus looked up at his sister. He never really saw her much when they were at Hogwarts. She was one of the lucky ones that was somehow able to make a large group of friends and not really need too much help from her brothers. And if anything she’d go to James because he was in the same house as her. He cared about his sister, deeply and they did have a good friendship, especially when they were both at home. He felt like he knew her and that she knew him, for obvious reasons. He could definitely trust her with everything on his mind. She may have been two years younger than him but she’d always been mature. She must have gotten that from their mother. 

 

“It’s going to sound stupid” Albus said. 

 

“You don’t have hide your idiocy from me” she smiled. Lily curled up against his side, making sure that the blanket covered both their shoulders. 

 

“I love him” he muttered.

 

“Scorpius?” she asked.

 

“Who else?” Albus almost laughed but it seemed to get caught in his throat.

 

“You’re too afraid to tell him, so you’re hiding up here. Is that it?”.

 

“It’s the one place he won’t think to look”.

 

“You can’t hide up here forever, Al” Lily reminded. “He’ll figure out where you are eventually”.

 

“I was hoping to last about a week up here actually” Albus half-whispered.

 

“You know, the more time you spend up here, the more worried he’ll get”.

 

“Maybe if he reaches maximum worry capacity he won’t hate me for doing this” Albus replied.

 

“I’ve always found you two funny” Lily said.

 

“I’m glad you’re finding humour in my darkest moments”.

 

“Shh, let me finish” she rolled her eyes at him. “I’ve always found you two funny because you’re absolutely perfect for each other and yet you’ve never done anything about it. That’s why I was so happy when I found out you two were dating, well I thought you were. Point is, you belong together”.

 

“How do you know that?” he looked up at her, confused.

 

“Merlin’s beard, Al, please tell me you’ve seen the way Scorpius looks at you” Lily looked back at him.

 

“It’s all for the fake dating thing” Albus replied. “It’s not real”.

 

“You can’t possible think that”.

 

“I think it”.

 

Lily sighed, leaning her head back against the wall behind them. “You two might be perfect for each other but you’re also both hopeless” she explained.

 

“Pretty sure I’ve been hopeless my entire life” Albus said under his breath.

 

“Oh, stop being a whiney emo baby” Lily poked him. “What are you afraid of anyway?”.

 

“Losing him” he muttered, “Scorpius is the best thing that’s ever happened to me and to compromise our friendship because I’ve caught feelings is selfish”.

 

“Selfish?” Lily asked, looking over at him with wide eyes. “Albus, you’ve locked yourself in the one place that he wouldn’t look solely to avoid him.  _ That _ is selfish. Not falling in love with your best friend”.

 

“I want to believe you Lily, really I do but-”.

 

“No. No buts. No what ifs. None of that junk. You’re going to tell him how you feel” she declared.

 

“Lily -”.

 

“I don’t care how you word it. None of that matters to me as long as you actually manage to do it” she continued, not letting her brother interrupt. 

 

“Lily, I’m terrified” Albus tried again.

 

“Al, how many people in the last, like, two months have told you that Scorpius feels the same as you? At least in some sort of way?” she asked him seriously.

 

Albus thought about that for a moment, counting names in his head. “Five” he muttered, “Including dad”.

 

“See!? Wait, you talked to dad about this? Wouldn’t that have been awkward?”.

 

“Surprisingly no” he shrugged. “He sort of just told me what everyone else was”.

 

“That you should suck up all your anxiety and take the plunge?” she asked.

 

“In those exact words yes” he smiled at her. 

 

“Well, if even dad told you to why haven’t you yet?” she looked up at him.

 

“Because I’m a coward” he admitted.

 

“The Albus Potter I know isn’t a coward” she said. “The Albus Potter I know would jump right into danger without thought if it meant protecting the people that he loved. The Albus Potter I know is the top in his DADA class. The Albus Potter I know -”.

 

“Alright, alright. I get it” Albus muttered, smiling just a little.

 

“The Albus Potter I know is a lot more courageous than he gives himself credit for” Lily finished, looking up at her brother, eyes shining.

 

“Thanks Lily”.

 

She nudged him fondly, “I look up to you, you know. And not just because you’re taller than me”.

 

“Damn, does that mean I have to set a good example?” he joked.

 

“You already do” she beamed at him.

 

“You’re not a bad sister” Albus said.

 

“I’m glad you approve of our parents’ conception skills” she replied.

 

“Lily, that’s gross” he scowled.

 

Lily winked at him before standing up and offering him her hand. “How are you feeling today?” she asked.

 

“Idiotically brave” he lied, taking her hand.

 

“You don’t have to feel brave to be brave. I think dad can confirm that for you”.

 

“Probably can’t fault you there”, Albus reached down to pick up his small piles of books and the blanket. 

 

“Give me those. You have much more important things to do” Lily sighed, pulling the books out of his arms.

 

“I’ll pick them up from you later, ok? Be careful with the top one-”.

 

“It’s Scorp’s. I know, I know. Now get going before I shove you out of here and roll you down the stairs myself” Lily laughed.

 

“You’d kill your own brother?” Albus teased.

 

“Depends how much he bothers me” she shrugged casually. “Tell me how it goes” she added.

 

“You know I will” Albus turned towards the door. “ _ Alohomora _ ” he muttered.

  
“I’ll be waiting” Lily beamed.

 

“Thank you again” Albus turned to look at his sister.

 

“Anytime, Al”.

 

….

 

It didn’t take Albus long to find Rose. She was hovering outside the library, seemingly keeping a lookout in case someone particular walked by. It was most likely him. From the way her eyes lit up when she spotted him his suspicions were confirmed. Rose threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. Albus hugged her back just as tightly.

 

“Albus, where the bloody hell have you been? I’ve been worried sick. Scorpius has been looking all over for you non-stop” she said.

 

“I was in the Astronomy Tower” he admitted, “Lily found me”.

 

“What were you doing up there?” Rose asked, pulling away from him but keeping her hands on his shoulders. 

 

“It was the only place Scorp wouldn’t know to look” he replied.

 

“You’re an absolute idiot” she chastised. 

 

“I know. If you see Scorp can you tell him to come to the Slytherin dorms. I need to talk to him” Albus looked at the ground instead of at her.

 

“Are you really going to tell him?”.

 

“If I can somehow manage to find the words” he admitted, “It’s overdue isn’t it?”.

 

“Very” she confirmed, “I’ll tell him. It won’t take me long to find him so you might want to head straight there”.

 

“I will” Albus nodded.

 

“Hey” Rose pulled her cousin into another hug, “I’m really proud of you”.

 

“You don’t have reason to be unless I’m somehow able to actually tell him” he muttered.

 

“I know you will” she pulled away again, smiling. “This won’t be nearly as bad as you think”.

 

“I love him so much, Rose”. That was something that she already knew but hearing him admit it almost confidently had her smile growing. 

 

“You’ve got this” she beamed at him.

 

“I’ll see you on the other side” he replied.

 

“Scorp has been worried sick too. Make sure you apologise to him” Rose pointed a finger at him accusingly. 

  
“I will”.

 

“Good”.

 

With one more smile Rose disappeared down the hallway. Albus started heading quickly down to the Slytherin Dungeon. There were lots of students milling about at this time but Albus tried not to let anything distract him. He focused on trying to think of how to word everything in his head, hoping that something would make sense enough to explain to Scorpius why he’d been avoiding him for the past few days. He just hoped that his best friend would forgive him. 

 

….

 

Rose found Scorpius in the Great Hall slumped over a cup of coffee. There wasn’t all too many people in there at this time and he was easy to spot. Scorpius had been getting paler over the last few days, it was because of the worry. But since he was already as pale as pale can be the effect was that he was starting to look like a ghost. Rose walked over to the Slytherin table and sat next to him, nudging him gently with her elbow. 

 

“Hey” she said.

 

“Hey” he replied, looking up at her. “Need a coffee too?” he asked.

 

“No, I’m ok” she smiled faintly. 

 

“I’m trying to think” he started, leaning into her a little, “of what I could possibly have done wrong to make him avoid me, but the more I think about it the more I convince myself that I’ve done more wrong things than right things”.

 

Rose placed a hand on his back and started drawing circles absently. It was something that she’d seen Albus do a thousand times when Scorpius was stressed or upset about something. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Scorp” she reassured, “Albus is just an idiot”.

 

“How do you know that? You can’t be inside his head or anything”.

 

“When you know Albus as well as I do, and you pretty much do actually, then it’s easy enough to be inside his head” she explained.

 

“Then can you tell me what he’s thinking right now?”.

 

“He’s nervous” Rose said, “He has something very important to tell you and he doesn’t know how. That’s why he’s been avoiding you the past few days”.

 

“That’s awfully specific” Scorpius looked up at her again.

 

“He’s in the Slytherin dorms and he wants you to meet him there”.

 

“I’ve already checked the Slytherin dorms. He’s not there, Rose” Scorpius sighed, gazing back into his almost empty coffee cup.

 

“Scorp, I saw him about ten minutes ago. He asked me to tell you to meet him there” Rose smiled at him.

 

“Really? What do you think he’s going to tell me then?” he asked.

 

“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out” she smirked.

 

“No hints?” he asked, hopeful.

 

“It’s something he’s been harbouring for a while” Rose explained, “That’s all I’m going to tell you”.

 

Scorpius swallowed, suddenly nervous. “He’s not dying or anything, right?” he muttered.

 

“Not at all”.

 

“Oh, good”.

 

Rose laughed at that. “You’re so uptight” she teased, “just relax”.

 

“I have no idea what to expect” he reminded.

 

“Let me put it this way” she said, “you might be surprised but no one else is”.

 

“I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean” he muttered.

 

Rose shook her head slowly. “You two are just as bad as each other. When he tells you it’ll all make sense, ok?”.

 

“Should I go now?” he looked at her.

 

“Yes, he’s waiting for you”.

 

“Alright”. Scorpius stood and looked down at himself absently before looking back at Rose. “Um, do I look ok?” he asked.

 

Rose burst into laughter, shocking the few other students in the Great Hall.

 

“Silly question” he muttered.

 

“Scorp, you look lovely ok? Now go” she gave him a slight shove in the direction of the doors. 

 

“I’ll see you on the other side” he said to her.

 

She nodded, smirking at him. She’d heard the phrase ‘two sides of the same coin’ and was thinking to herself that was no pairing in all the world that could possibly match that better than Albus and Scorpius did. 

 

….

 

Albus was so incredibly nervous. He was pacing back and forth across his dorm room. All of his roommates were off somewhere else in the castle. He’d spotted a few of them down in the common room when he’d walked through earlier. So he was alone, and he was pacing. There were too many thoughts and words and phrases running through his head and the more he focused on it the more he was starting to get overwhelmed again. He started hoping that Scorpius would appear soon because even if he had no idea how he was going to tell him maybe just seeing him would help him make sense of everything. He was twisting his hands in front of him slowly, trying to make sense of the mess inside his head. He loved Scorpius, that much he knew. That was all he really knew. And he had to tell him that, somehow. 

 

The door opened and Albus looked up as Scorpius entered. They both froze automatically, eyes locked on each other. The door crashed to a close behind Scorpius. Albus had no idea what to do so he just didn’t do anything. Scorpius moved first, walking across the room and wrapping Albus up in a hug. 

 

“Al, are you ok?” he asked quietly.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” Albus muttered, voice muffled by Scorpius’ shoulder.

 

“You’re shaking” Scorpius replied, hugging him tighter. 

 

“I know I’ve been avoiding you and I probably don’t even have a good reason” Albus said.

 

“Rose said you had something really important to tell me”.

 

“She’s right”.

 

“I don’t think there’s even been a moment in her life when she’s been wrong”.

 

“Can’t fault you there” Albus laughed.

 

Scorpius pulled away a little so he could look at Albus. “Something’s been bothering you” he stated, “I think I might have noticed earlier but I didn’t ever mention it. I’m sorry for that”.

 

“You have nothing to apologise for” Albus replied, he was partially breathless because that was the effect that Scorpius had on him. They were incredibly close to each other in that moment and Albus found himself overwhelmed in an entirely different way. He kept getting lost Scorpius’ eyes and he’d never been good at stopping himself from drowning.

 

“I definitely should have mentioned it. Maybe then you wouldn’t have felt like you had to lock yourself away” Scorpius continued. “Where were you anyway?”.

 

“Astronomy Tower” Albus muttered.

 

“I didn’t even think to look there”.

 

“That was the point”.

 

Scorpius smirked at that. “Dork” he muttered. 

 

“I do have something to tell you” Albus said, he was absently twirling his hand in Scorpius’ tie for reasons he was unsure of. Scorpius didn’t seem to mind, at least. “I just don’t really know how to” he admitted.

 

“Al, you know that you can tell me anything” he reminded.

 

“I know, but this is such a big thing to me” he muttered, “I have no idea what I’m doing”.

 

“That just seems to be life at this stage isn’t it” Scorpius joked, “just a whole lot of guesswork”.

 

Albus’ eyes flicked briefly between his hand in Scorpius’ tie and up to his face. He made a sudden decision that shocked him just the slightest bit. It was incredibly risky but somehow it seemed to be easier than words. Scorpius was still smiling and Albus thought that maybe this was the one way that would truly show him how he felt. Albus pulled on Scorpius’ tie gently, so that he was even closer to him. He panicked for just a quick second at what he was doing before committing entirely and pressing his lips to Scorpius’, his free hand resting against Scorpius’ neck. Scorpius made a muffled sound of surprised but kissed him back regardless, one hand wrapping around Albus’ waist and the other pressing against his back gently to pull him closer. Albus wasn’t sure how long kisses were supposed to last for but there was a part of him that hoped that it could go on forever, however improbable that was. When he pulled away, his breath was shaky and most of him couldn’t believe that was something that had really happened.

 

“Does that answer a few questions?” he asked, looking up at Scorpius.

 

Scorpius looked back at him, wide-eyed and seemingly in some kind of state of shock. “I think that just raises more of them actually” he replied.

 

Albus hesitated. He was suddenly very aware that he’d somehow managed to convince himself to kiss his best friend. Even though that was something that had been on his mind a lot the reality of it actually happening was somehow consuming. He just needed one more little burst of courage. “I love you” he said, “I always have, does that help?”.

 

Scorpius didn’t say anything, he just looked at Albus. His brain was slower, still processing the fact that the two of them had just kissed and he couldn’t think of a legitimate answer to that.

 

Albus let go of Scorpius’ tie slowly and stepped away from him. His panic was settling in again. “I knew it. You don’t like me like that. I’m sorry, Scorp. I shouldn’t have kissed you, I’m sorry” he turned away. 

 

Scorpius’ brain seemed to catch up with what was happening and he shook his head to help clear it. “Al, what are you on about?” he asked. 

 

“I’m sorry, please don’t hate me”.

 

“I could never hate you” he took a step towards his best friend. “Al, you just kissed me and told me you loved me. It just took me a minute to process that”.

 

Albus turned back around to face him. “Was it terrible?” he asked.

 

“No, you were quite wonderful actually” Scorpius smiled at him, “The tie thing was … incredibly clever”.

 

Albus laughed. “I don’t know what came over me” he admitted.

 

“Well whatever it was” his smile turned into a smirk, “it was amazing”.

 

“You weren’t terrible either” Albus returned his smirk.

 

“I love you too, you know” he said, playing with Albus’ tie absently.

 

“You trying to steal my tie trick?” he asked.

 

“Wouldn’t dream of it”.

 

The two of them laughed at that. Scorpius let go of Albus’ tie and took his hand instead. 

 

“No wonder everyone was so exasperated with us” Scorpius beamed. 

 

“I’m not sure how Rose put up with our pining” Albus added.

 

“Barely, it seems”.

 

“I feel like I owe her an apology” Albus muttered, “I ranted to her about you all the time”.

 

“I did the same, actually” Scorpius admitted.

 

“Really?”.

 

“Really”.

 

“Maybe we should have done this much earlier” Albus said.

 

Scorpius shrugged, “I don’t think it really matters in the end”.

 

“You’re probably right” Albus nodded. “I think I owe my sister an apology too. And James, come to think of it”.

 

“More ranting?”.

 

“What can I say, you consumed all my thoughts” he blushed and looked away again.

 

“I can’t deny that you did the same for me as well”.

 

Albus looked up at him, a thought occurring to him. “Do you think we’ll ever kiss again?” he asked.

 

“Well, since you asked so nicely” Scorpius smiled, leaning down to close the gap between them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He did that!!!!! I feel like you were all waiting for that. My girlfriend tried to convince me to finish the fic here when she read it but I couldn't do that. So there's still a few more chapters after this, don't worry.  
> I'm glad everyone is liking this so far. If you need to scream about this chapter in any way, shape or form (or just this fic in general) you can drop by my ask box on Tumblr. I'm over at potter-awakening :)  
> I'll see you guys on Monday! <3


	12. Owe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday everyone! Or Sunday, I guess because time zones are weird. Happy whatever day it is where you are, my friends. This chapter features everyone being a dork because why not.

Albus was running down the hallways of Hogwarts. He was headed for the library because he knew that would be where Rose was. People were looking at him strangely as he bolted passed them but Albus was way too happy to care. It was a little bit difficult, dashing up moving staircases but he was too focused on finding his cousin that he barely registered that at all. He spotted Rose standing in front of the library. She was talking to Lily and he found himself excited that the two of them were together, that way he could tell them at the same time. 

 

“Rose!” he called to her.

 

Rose and Lily looked up at him, slightly confused.

 

“I did the thing!” he yelled, startling some nearby first years. 

 

Rose and Lily beamed at him. “You did the thing!?” Rose called back.

 

“Yeah!”.

 

“Oh my god!” the two girls squealed. 

 

The second that Albus reached them, Rose pulled him into a hug. 

 

“I’m so proud of you” she beamed, pulling away.

 

“My baby brother’s all grown up” Lily said, hugging him.

 

“Lily, I’m older than you” Albus reminded her, laughing and hugging her back.

 

“So I’m assuming it went well then?” Rose asked.

 

“Tell us everything” Lily demanded.

 

“Um” Albus muttered. “Where do I start?”.

 

“From the beginning most likely” Rose smirked.

 

“Is my boyfriend hassling you two lovely ladies?” Scorpius beamed, sliding an arm around Albus’ shoulders and pulling him against his side easily.

 

“Boyfriend?” Albus asked, looking up at him with bright eyes.

 

“Sorry, should we have gone on a date first?” he asked.

“Oh shush, you two are way passed that” Rose laughed. 

 

“Tell me everything!” Lily repeated, slightly louder. 

 

“If you’re not careful the librarian is going to come outside and kick you out of the hallway” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Can she do that?”.

 

“Apparently so, we’ve seen it happen” he looked at Albus.

 

“Second year” Albus nodded, “some seventh years were gossiping a little too loudly”.

 

“She’s terrifying isn’t she?” Lily laughed.

 

“Lily, you’re dragging the conversation away from its focus point” Rose reminded.

 

“Oh, you’re right. My apologies”.

 

“Is that the famous Potter-Malfoy romantic duo I see?” a voice said from behind them.

 

“I did the thing” Albus beamed up at his brother.

 

“Rosey, darling, I believe you owe me some money” James looked at his cousin.

 

Rose sighed to herself, “I’ll pay up a little later. I don’t have any on me at the moment”.

 

“More bets?” Albus asked, eyes flicking between James and Rose.

 

“Just a little bit of honest fun” James waved a hand dismissively.

 

“How long?” Albus asked Rose.

 

“Since second year” she shrugged.

  
“Incredible” Scorpius laughed.

 

“Have I missed the explanation?” James asked, looking at the four of them.

 

“They were just getting to that” Lily beamed, clapping her hands together in excitement.

 

“Do you want to tell them or do you want me to?” Scorpius asked looking down at Albus.

 

“I’m not sure” he admitted.

 

“Do you want to tell them at all?”.

 

“Um-”.

 

“Hey, we have a right to know” Lily crossed her arms over her chest, “I contributed to this”.

 

“So did I” Rose smirked.

 

“And me as well” James added.

 

Albus sighed as Scorpius just smirked at him. 

 

“How many people did you rant to?” Scorpius laughed.

 

“A few” he shrugged.

 

“Why am I not surprised?”.

 

“Because you  _ know  _ him” Rose reminded.

 

“You know him and yet you couldn’t see the heart eyes he made at you every other second” Lily smirked. “Amazing isn’t it?”.

 

“I kissed him” Albus said. Three pairs of eyes turned to him in delighted shock and he found himself blushing and looking away from the three of them.

 

“I think I need to start keeping track of who owes who” James replied.

 

“How many bets did you have?” he asked.

 

“Well what else were we supposed to do at Christmas?”.

 

“You were making bets about my love life at Christmas?” Albus asked, trying to ignore the fact that Scorpius seemed unable to stop laughing next to him.

 

“Every year without fail” he shrugged.

  
“Since second year” Lily teased.

 

“You as well?” he looked at her.

 

“All of us” Rose laughed. 

 

Albus crossed his arms over his chest, a habit he’d picked up from his mother and sister when they were angry. “I can’t believe the three of you” he said.

 

“Don’t be angry, Al. It’s was all good natured” Rose smiled at him.

 

“Real money though” James smirked.

 

Albus looked up at Scorpius, hoping for some sort of back up, only to see that the other boy was still trying to stop himself from laughing. “You’re no help” he said.

 

Scorpius looked down at him, beaming. “Well, I know how much I talked about you. It’s kind of comforting to know that you did the same” he replied.

 

“Oh, Al talked about you  _ all the time _ ” Lily smirked. “You don’t have to live with him like I do but he would go on and on -”.

 

“Alright, Lily” Albus interrupted, “Anything else you three need to know?”.

 

“How’d you kiss him?” Rose asked, solely out of curiosity. 

  
“I pulled on his tie” Albus shrugged. “He’s just a little bit too tall, you know”.

  
“Smooth” James praised, “I might have to use that”.

 

“It was quite impressive actually” Scorpius commented, “I wasn’t expecting it at all”.

 

“How was it?” James asked.

 

“James!” Albus protested.

 

“I don’t have anything to compare it to” Scorpius shrugged, “but I thought it was good”.

 

“You two are so cute” Lily beamed at them. 

 

“I can’t believe this took like five years” Rose added.

 

“Did you expect us to start dating at eleven?” Albus asked, amused.

 

“Well when you put it that way …” she trailed off.

 

“We need to celebrate this” James announced.

“You just want an excuse to get some firewhisky” Albus replied easily.

 

“My motives are as pure as I am”.

 

“Charming” Rose muttered.

 

“I’ll have you know-”.

 

“I don’t want to know, James, you can keep all of that to yourself” she interrupted.

 

“I have to owl mum” Lily beamed. “Oh and Aunt Hermione” she turned to Rose.

 

“Maybe I should just send a howler to wherever Potters or Granger-Weasleys reside” Albus muttered.

 

“That might be a little easier”.

 

“The only person I’d have to owl would be my dad” Scorpius shrugged, “Maybe sometimes it’s better to have a small family”.

 

“We wouldn’t know. There’s always been at least ten of us, I think” James replied.

 

“Well mum grew up with six brothers” Albus reminded.

 

“Exactly”.

 

“Have you thought about how to tell you dad, Scorp?” Rose asked.

 

“Oh yeah, I’ll just owl him. ‘Hey dad, I’m finally dating Albus. You can give Harry Potter that money you owe him” Scorpius replied. “Easy”.

 

“What makes you think he’ll be losing the bet?” Lily asked.

 

He shrugged again, “doesn’t matter either way really”.

 

“So are we going to Hogsmeade or not?” James pitched.

  
“Shouldn’t you be studying?” Albus asked.

 

“Shouldn’t you?” he replied.

 

“Good point”.

 

“Hang on, I have to go and get Hugo” Lily replied. 

 

“You’re going to trek it all the way back to Gryffindor Tower just for that?” James asked.

 

“He owes me money” she shrugged, “and he’s family”.

 

“How many bets?”.

 

“I’ll explain later” Rose placed a hand on her cousin’s shoulder, smirking at him. “Christmas is really boring, you know”.

 

“You’re not wrong but how did all of this happen without me even noticing?” Albus asked.

 

“You’re really going to ask me that? It took you, like, three years to notice this one” she pointed at Scorpius.

 

“I noticed him” Albus defended, “I was just too nervous to say anything”.

 

“To him!” Lily replied, “I’ve heard a lot that you had to say”.

 

“Go and get Hugo and then we’ll head on down” James said, giving his sister a little nudge. She nodded and started off down the corridor towards her common room.

 

“Bit unusual to go to Hogsmeade at this time isn’t it?” Scorpius asked, “Will we even be allowed to?”.

 

“I’ll tell McGonagall it’s a celebration. She’ll let us” he shrugged.

  
“Please tell me you don’t have a bet with her too” Albus whined.

  
“I don’t” James shrugged.

 

“Oh good”.

 

“But mum and dad do”.

 

“James!”.

 

“Why are you so surprised, Al?” James smirked. 

 

“I wonder who my dad has a bet with” Scorpius muttered thoughtfully.

 

“Probably my parents” Albus replied.

 

“Probably”.

 

“You are finding this way too funny” he accused.

 

“I’m not even sorry” he replied.

 

“I don’t even expect you to be”.

 

Lily returned, Hugo hot on her tails. The two of them were beaming as they ran back towards the group.

  
“So is it true?” Hugo looked between the two of them, “You two are finally, properly together?”.

 

“As true as true can be” Scorpius replied, ruffling Albus’ hair because he knew how much that annoyed him.

 

“I actually hate you” Albus muttered.

 

“You actually love me” he beamed back.

 

“How unfortunate”.

 

“This is the best thing that has ever happened in the history of Hogwarts” Lily declared.

 

“No, I think that moment still stands with when Uncle Fred and Uncle George started exploding fireworks in the middle of exams and then dropped out of school while flying off on their brooms” James reminded. “Peeves still talks about it all the time”.

 

“Hmm” Lily mused. “Well this is definitely a close second” she decided.

 

“How is this even close to that?” Albus asked. 

 

“If only you realised how important this is to Hogwarts as a whole” James teased. “Anyway, McGonagall’s office is this way” he started off down the corridor.

 

“Are you seriously going to ask her if we can go to Hogsmeade? It’s not even the weekend” Rose followed him.

 

Lily and Hugo looked at each other, excited for even just a minimal adventure and followed as well.

 

“Well, I don’t know what I expected” Scorpius said. “They seemed to take it well”.

“I can’t believe the amount of bets they had” Albus muttered.

 

“Does it make you uncomfortable?”.

 

“No, not really. I mean, I know how I feel about you. I just didn’t realise how obvious it was” he shrugged.

 

“Considering the amount of rants you went on, you shouldn’t be surprised” Scorpius smirked.

 

“I guess I didn’t know how much I actually talked about you”.

 

“That’s sweet” Scorpius replied. He pressed a kiss to Albus’ forehead before taking his hand. “Come on, studying can wait” he smiled.

 

“A sentence I never thought I’d hear you say”.

 

….

 

“You know, Al, I’m starting to think this was a horrible idea” Rose muttered. The six of them were making their way through the streets of Hogsmeade towards The Three Broomsticks after requesting permission from Professor McGonagall. Somehow James had managed to convince her to let them go and Rose was a little bit too scared to ask what he’d said to get her to agree to that. 

 

“I told you he just wanted an excuse to get drunk” Albus replied. He was walking between Rose and Scorpius - whose hand he was happily holding onto - and keeping a close eye on Lily and Hugo because  _ somebody  _ had to be the responsible one, and that had never been James.

 

“I know, I guess we were all caught up in the excitement of it all we didn’t realise what we were agreeing to”.

 

“That’s fairly dramatic for what this is” Scorpius smiled. He’d found himself to be incredibly happy and even though the night could end in some kind of strange turmoil he wasn’t going to concentrate on that.

 

“We have kids with us. I probably should have said something” Albus said. James, Lily and Hugo were a few steps ahead of them, talking excitedly about something or another.

 

“We are kids” Rose laughed.

 

“Al, we could just head back if it bothers you that much” Scorpius reminded.

 

“James would never let that happen”.

“And I’d never leave Lily and Hugo with him” Rose added.

 

“Maybe this will be fun” Scorpius shrugged.

 

“You’ve never seen James drunk have you?” Albus looked up at him. 

 

“No, I don’t think I have”.

 

“You’re in for a treat then, Scorp” Rose scowled.

 

….

 

“I can’t believe I didn’t listen to you. You and Rose were absolutely right. That was horrible” Scorpius was whispering. The castle was dark and he and Albus were sneaking their way back to the Slytherin Dungeon. The two of them having just helped Rose haul a barely conscious and entirely wasted James up to the Gryffindor Tower. It had been quite the task, considering there were legitimately moving staircases that were doing them no favours in the slightest.

 

“I did warn you” Albus smirked at him. 

 

“I know. I shouldn’t have been surprised”.

 

“If it makes you feel any better I’ve never seen him down that much firewhisky in his life” Albus shrugged.

 

“You don’t seem concerned” Scorpius mused.

 

“It’s his problem really. He’ll have to deal with how he feels in the morning”.

 

There was a flicker of a light up ahead and the two of them panicked for a brief moment. Whether they’d gotten permission from Professor McGonagall or not, they really didn’t want to get caught waltzing through the halls after hours. Scorpius recovered first, grabbing Albus’ arm and pulling him around the corner quickly. There was a small nook in the wall between two class rooms and Scorpius used it to their advantage, pressing Albus gently against the wall. The two of them were facing each other, inches away from each other and were almost too scared to breathe. They just stared at each other, ears listening intently for when the sound of footsteps faded away from them again. When it was silent again, and the light had faded away Albus took a shaky breath. 

 

“Am I too close to you?” Scorpius asked, because Albus was sometimes very fond of his personal space and he was very aware of how close the two of them were to each other.

 

“No it’s quite nice actually” he replied, smiling up at him. His eyes were a little glazed over, giving away how tired he truly was.

 

“You know, it just occurred to me that I could kiss you right now” Scorpius muttered, because since kissing Albus earlier it was a thought that had stayed on his mind.

 

“That wouldn’t be very productive of you” Albus replied, “we do actually have classes tomorrow”.

 

“Maybe not productive but definitely spontaneous, I think”.

 

“I don’t think it’s really spontaneous if you discuss it first” he smirked.

 

“Al, why do you have to spoil my fun like this?” Scorpius teased.

 

‘If you’re going to kiss me then kiss me. I’d like to get some sleep tonight” Albus replied.

 

“As enticing as the idea of kissing you all night is, I’d like to get some sleep as well” Scorpius muttered. Albus rolled his eyes at him silently as Scorpius closed the remaining few inches between them, one hand propped up against the wall beside Albus’ head and the other holding his waist. Albus smiled into the kiss, his hands wrapping around Scorpius and pressing against his back gently to pull him closer. “I love you” Scorpius whispered, pulling away again. “I can’t believe it took me this long to tell you”.

 

“I love you too, Scorp. Now we better get back to the dorms before someone accidently finds us like this” Albus smirked.

  
“That would be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?” Scorpius beamed, he took Albus’ hand quickly and the two of them continued on their way back the Slytherin Dungeon for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I love me some cute, fluffy endings to chapters.   
> Until next time! I hope you all have a lovely day/night :)


	13. Alliance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided that since this fic is so close to the end I might as well just update it every day. It's come to that time of year where I need to something to look forward to to push me through the last remaining moments of the school year, so I think this will help.   
> In any case, this chapter features some new friendships, some old and some fluff. I hope you all enjoy it!

Albus, Scorpius and Rose were wandering towards the quidditch pitch. Albus had a practice to attend so he was holding his broom with one hand and Scorpius’ hand with the other. Technically Rose shouldn’t be attending, since she was on an opposing team but she’d never been stopped before and she suspected it was because of her amazing loyalty. She never really spied on the enemy during practice, she was purely there just to support Albus and talk to Scorpius. Sometimes the two of them would have work to catch up on anyway. 

 

“You know what’s incredible?” Scorpius asked. The wind was turning colder as autumn settled in and sped towards winter, so the grounds weren’t nearly as populated as they were in the warmer months. 

 

“You?” Albus smirked at him.

 

“Besides me, obviously”.

 

Rose rolled her eyes at her friends. “As happy as I am for the two of you, I really should’ve expected this kind of sap” she said.

 

“I would apologise but I genuinely don’t want to” Albus shrugged. 

 

“Should I owl Aunt Ginny and tell her that her son has turned into a rude little prat?” she teased.

 

“You wouldn’t dare”.

 

“You know I would”.

 

The two of them glared at each other for about half a minute before bursting into a fit of laughter.

 

“I think families will always confuse me” Scorpius muttered, eyes flicking between Albus and Rose.

 

“So what’s incredible, Scorp?” Rose asked, smiling.

 

“Nothing has changed” he shrugged, “I mean, I guess I expected some sort of reaction to this” Scorpius waved a hand absently, indicating himself and Albus.

 

“It’s because everyone expected it” Rose explained, “they were just waiting for it to happen”.

 

“I don’t quite know how I feel about that” Albus muttered.

 

“Then you don’t want to know how much money I’ve gained in the last few weeks” she beamed, proud of herself.

 

“Did literally everyone have some sort of bet?” Scorpius asked, amused.

 

“Yep” Rose confirmed. “I’ve had money given to me in the library and in the common room. I’ve had people of all houses stop me in corridors to hand over what they owe. I’m so glad I know the two of you because if I didn’t I wouldn’t have enough to practically buy out Honeydukes”.

 

“And will you? Buy out Honeydukes, I mean”.

 

“Of course not. I’m going to save it” Rose declared proudly.

 

“Of course you are” Albus smirked. 

 

….

 

Even if their next game wasn’t until after everyone returned from winter break the Slytherin team were intent on keeping up their practices. They needed to be at their best so they could smash Hufflepuff next game. Albus didn’t spend much time with the team outside of practice and games but he enjoyed their company quite a lot when he was with them. The team idly chatted amongst themselves as they made their way out onto the pitch. Albus looked up and beamed when he saw Rose and Scorpius in the empty Slytherin stands (the only time Rose would ever be seen in them). Scorpius offered him a little wave and Rose just smiled at him before turning back to the textbook that she’d brought with her. She’d somehow managed to carry down two textbooks and enough parchment and ink for both her and Scorpius without complaint. They had an essay due that Albus was steadily avoiding. Which meant he’d probably find himself in the library early the next morning trying to finish it off before class. Albus looked over to see the Slytherin captain staring down at him, smirking.

 

“The cousin and the boyfriend” Albus shrugged casually.

 

“It’s about time, Potter” he replied easily.

 

“Not you as well”.

 

“I was hoping to see it before I graduated”.

 

“I don’t know why I’m surprised” Albus muttered.

 

“It seems to be one of your constant states” he laughed.

 

“Are you talking about Potter and Malfoy finally getting together?” one of the beaters asked as she appeared on the other side of their captain. 

 

“I’m right here you know” Albus reminded.

 

“You still haven’t told us how that happened” she smirked at him, “We’re all dying to know”.

 

Albus looked around at them and realised that his whole team was looking at him expectantly. He sighed to himself. “We were in the dorms and I kissed him, happy now?” he asked.

 

“Not enough detail”.

 

“Gayyy” one of the chaser’s teased playfully.

 

“They’re talking about you” Rose said, tapping Scorpius’ parchment with the end of her quill to get his attention.

 

“How could you possible know that from all the way up here?” he asked her.

 

“Al is blushing” she shrugged, “he only ever does that when someone’s talking about you”. 

 

Scorpius looked down at the Slytherin quidditch team. They were all laughing happily together and Albus did look a little flushed. Sometimes he forgot how well Rose knew her cousin. “I guess I should be flattered” he replied.

 

“Honestly he’ll take any chance possible to talk about you so it’s not surprising” Rose smirked.

 

“Definitely flattered”.

 

….

 

As expected Albus found himself in the library during the early hours of the next morning. Really he should have learned by now that leaving essays until the last minute was an absolutely terrible decision, but it seemed there were some things that were never really learned. He was by himself, sitting at Rose’s usual table. There weren’t many people in the library at this time, most people would be asleep, but Albus had never been ‘most people’. He was staring down at his parchment in frustration. He’d already restarted three times but he was still unhappy with his wording. Not that he thought he’d ever be happy with it. He dropped his head into his hands and sighed quietly. Next time he’d start working on this earlier. Next time he’d actually be prepared. Or maybe he’d just enlist Scorpius to help him, that could probably work.

 

“Albus?”.

 

He looked up at the sound of his name and smiled faintly. “Hey Alice” he said, “working on late assignments too?”.

 

Alice shook her head and sat across from him. She was keeping very much to herself and had seemingly lost the little sparkle in her eyes that he remembered. Probably because it was there when she looked at Scorpius. “No, actually I just prefer to be in the library when it’s early. There’s never really anyone here” she shrugged. “Sometimes it feels like people are watching me when I know they’re not”.

 

“I know how you feel” Albus replied, sympathetically. 

 

“How’s your essay going?” Alice shifted in her seat again, resting her hands against the table and seemingly a little more comfortable. 

 

“It’s not”.

 

She laughed at that, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. It was a gesture that he recognised from Rose. “Need some help?” she offered.

 

“I’m not sure if you’re any good at Care of Magical Creature” he shrugged, “but I’d appreciate it”.

 

“It’s one of my best subjects actually” Alice beamed. “Not that I’m bragging” she added.

 

“I could use all the help I can get at this stage. So I don’t mind the bragging”. Albus indicated the seat next to him and Alice moved to his side of the table. She looked over his parchment quickly, a frown making its way on to her face. She looked up at his textbook and a realisation seemed to dawn on her.

 

“I can see your problem” she looked up at him, “you’re using the wrong chapter in the textbook”.

 

“Not again” Albus groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

 

Alice laughed, a hand automatically going to his shoulder sympathetically. “I get the sense this happens often” she said.

 

“It does” Albus resurfaced, looking over at her.

 

Alice moved her hand, resting them on the table again, “Why?”.

 

“I usually forget to write down the readings so I get them off Scorpius. I’m starting to think he writes down the wrong ones to confuse me”.

 

She smirked at that, “I feel that I would do the same if I were him”.

“Thanks” he muttered.

 

“Here” Alice smiled, she took Albus’ textbook and gently flicked through to the right chapter, “this is what you should be using”.

 

“I really appreciate this” Albus replied, returning her smile.

 

“It’s nothing. I actually wanted to talk to you anyway”.

 

“To me?”. Alice had never shown much interest in him before. Sometimes he thought that maybe she forgot he was there, since she’d spent her time ogling at Scorpius anyway. Not that he could really blame her for that when he’d done the same sometimes. 

 

Alice nodded, her smile fading, “I wanted to apologise”.

 

“For what?” Albus asked, his confusion growing.

  
Alice hesitated, she moved her hands as if she was trying to indicate something but wasn’t sure what. “Um”, she muttered, “I guess I’m not entirely sure why you’re not angry at me”.

 

“Angry at you? Why would I be angry at you?”.

 

She looked up and met his eyes, “Um, I was sort of coming onto your boyfriend?”. It came out like a question even though she knew it was the truth, “I should have realised that you two were together. I just wanted to apologise for that”.

 

“Oh” Albus muttered, letting that sink in for a moment. “Alice, I don’t blame you for having a crush on Scorpius. I harboured one for years”.

 

“I just wanted you to know that I’m very happy for you two” she smiled faintly. “You’re perfect for each other”.

 

“You know, you’re not the first one to tell me that”.

 

“Really?”.

 

Albus nodded, “A lot of people have been trying to push us together over the last few months”.

 

“I can’t really blame them. With the way he looks at you and everything” she laughed.

 

“It’s all so new” Albus shrugged, “I guess a part of me has always really wanted to be able to call him my boyfriend and now that I can -” Albus broke off because Alice had started giggling, her hands covering her mouth to try and keep quiet. “What?” he asked.

“I’m sorry” she beamed, calming down, “You two are just so  _ adorable _ . Consider me the biggest fan of your relationship from now on”.

 

“I think you’ll have to fight Rose for that position” he replied.

 

“We can be co-captains of your fan club” she teased.

 

“Please no”.

 

Alice beamed at him, nudging him a little, “maybe we should focus back on your essay”.

 

“You’re right” Albus turned back to his textbook, that was finally on the right page. 

 

….

 

Albus was steadily realising that Alice was an incredibly good person. He almost felt guilty for how hostile his thoughts had been towards her initially. Between the two of them they managed to finish off his essay in a way that he was actually happy with, keeping up idle conversation in the meantime. It didn’t take him long to notice that when Alice was comfortable, she liked to talk. Not overly so, or in an annoying way, just polite chatter. He learned a lot about her in the hour they spent in the library. Alice’s best class was Care of Magical Creatures, she loved Muggle Studies and Herbology and she and Rose had a running joke that she was actually a Hufflepuff in disguise. Maybe that was because she took after her mother, who had been a Hufflepuff when she attended Hogwarts. Her family had been a little bit confused when she’d been sorted into Gryffindor without so much as a thought from the Sorting Hat. She’d never been good at quidditch, but always enjoyed watching the games when they occurred and cheering for her house. Alice was kind and bubbly and Albus found himself building a friendship with her quite quickly. They even walked to their first class together. Scorpius and Rose were standing next to each other, waiting for Albus to appear before they headed into class. Scorpius looked a little confused when he saw Albus walking with Alice but Rose just looked happy. 

 

“Did you manage to finish your essay?” Rose asked when the two of them reached her.

 

“Yes, actually. Alice helped me. She’s a lifesaver” he smiled, looking over at Alice who seemed to be blushing a little. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the complement or because of Scorpius’ presence. Even if she’d gotten over her crush, he couldn’t blame her if that was the case.

 

“Well it is her best subject”.

 

When Alice blushed even more, hiding her face behind her hands, Albus decided that it had definitely been because of the complement.

 

“Maybe it’ll teach you not to leave your essays to the last minute again” Rose teased.

 

“You know, some things just can’t be taught” he shrugged.

 

The four of them laughed. A few other students walked by them and into the classroom so they decided they better head in as well. 

 

“Alice, you can sit next to me if you like” Rose smiled at her friend. Usually she sat by herself, behind Albus and Scorpius but she didn’t mind having company at all.

 

“Really?”.

 

“Of course”.

 

Scorpius took Albus’ hand quickly, leaning down to whisper something in his ear, “I missed you”.

 

Albus looked up at Scorpius, almost confused. “You saw me yesterday” he replied. 

 

“Doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you anyway” he shrugged.

 

Albus smiled at that. “You’re cute” he muttered.

 

“So are you”.

 

The four of them filed into the classroom and took their seats. There was still a few minutes until class started so there was quiet conversation happening throughout the room. Albus started setting up his quill, ink and parchment easily. After a while it just became routine. Scorpius was tapping his fingers against the table in a quick succession, as if he was nervous about something.

 

“You ok?” Albus looked over at him, his hand covering Scorpius’ gently to stop the tapping. 

 

“I need to ask you something but I’m really not sure how” Scorpius looked back at him.

 

“You know you can ask me anything”.

 

“I know. I’m having a little trouble with the wording” he shrugged.

 

“I know the feeling” Albus smirked.

 

Scorpius rolled his eyes at that. He slid his hand out from under Albus’ and put his arm around him, shuffling just a little bit closer to his boyfriend. “I’ve been thinking” he muttered, voice a little quieter than was probably necessary, “maybe we should go out. You know, on a date. A real one”. 

 

Albus smiled at that, “Is that what’s been bothering you?”.

 

“Well, I’m not very creative so I’ve been trying to think of something that’s … good enough, I guess. I can’t seem to think of anything that’ll do you justice”.

 

“What do you mean?” Albus found himself aimlessly playing with Scorpius’ tie. 

 

“I mean, you deserve the best and nothing seems good enough” he shrugged. Scorpius had been going over date ideas in his head, at least the ones he’d heard about around Hogwarts and the surrounding areas, but nothing seemed to be worthy of what he felt like he needed to give Albus.

 

Albus let go of Scorpius tie and smiled up at him, “That’s incredibly sweet of you” he said, “but, Scorp, I don’t need fancy dates or anything like that. I just need you”.

 

“I feel like you’ve waited a long time for this” Scorpius replied.

 

“Have you ever considered that you might have been worth the wait?”.

 

Scorpius looked at Albus and found himself quite desperately wanting to kiss him, but they were in class so that would have to wait. 

 

“Hey dorks!” Rose called, smirking at her two best friends.

 

Scorpius and Albus turned in their chairs so that they were facing Rose. 

 

“While you two are making heart eyes at each other you’re missing out on some incredible conversation”.

 

“You’ll just have to fill us in then, won’t you?” Scorpius replied easily.

 

The doors at the back of the classroom opened and the Professor quickly made her way into the room. Everyone quickly wrapped up their conversations and started to fall silent. 

 

“You’ll have to wait in suspense then” Rose shrugged. 

 

Albus pulled out his little notebook, deciding that the easiest way to communicate with Rose would be to send notes. He quickly scribbled something onto a page before turning and dropping it onto her desk while the Professor was writing something on the blackboard. 

 

_ Your cousin just got asked out on a date. What’s your reaction to that?  _

 

Rose rolled her eyes at the note and quickly wrote something back.

_ Whoever asked will have to prove themselves worthy of my cousin’s affections first _ . 

 

Albus bit down hard on his lip so that he wouldn’t laugh and slid the notebook over to Scorpius quietly. Scorpius looked up at him, confused but then read the notes anyway, recognising his friends’ handwriting immediately. He added something to the page quickly before passing the notebook back to Rose.

 

_ I can assure you, Miss Granger-Weasley, that I’ll do everything in my power to be deemed good enough for the incredible wizard that is your cousin.  _

 

Rose looked down at the message and shook her head slowly. She quickly wrote her response and sent the notebook back to the two boys.

 

_ Gay _ . 

  
Albus and Scorpius couldn’t help laughing at that and were quickly silenced by the Professor. Instead of risking being called out again, Albus decided that his notebook should stay hidden for the rest of the class. He needed to focus anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius is such a dork and I'm emotional about it. Anyways, thank you all for reading this, especially if you've stuck with it the whole time. It really does mean a lot to me.   
> I'll see you all soon!


	14. Company

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Morning sunshines! Or afternoon, I guess. Time zones are weird, but here is the new chapter. This one is very Rose centered to help with starting to tie up a few ends in her story line. It's really just a lead up to something bigger for all of them. I hope you like it!

The end of the year was wearing ever closer and the joy that had encompassed Halloween soon wore into joy about Christmas. Winter break was brought closer and closer with every passing day and slowly decorations started appearing around the castle. Classes were getting more stressful as final assignments before the break became the priority. The library was probably thriving with all the extra visitors. Before long the snow started falling and the sense of Christmas was truly in the air. Albus, Scorpius and Rose were at their usual table in the library. Most of their work had been completed, except for Albus who always had a habit of leaving things until the last minute. Scorpius and Rose often found themselves consoling him and helping him through the last of his work sometimes hours before submission was supposed to occur. Alice had come and gone, even though she’d started hanging around with them a little more she still had her other friends as well. 

 

“I’ve been thinking” Rose started, even though the library was supposed to be completely silent there was always panicked whispers among students at this time of year. So they could get away with talking a little more.

 

“That’s probably something you get from the Weasley side of the family” Albus replied, skimming a few sentences in one of his textbooks and trying to digest it. 

 

Rose rolled her eyes, sharing a look with Scorpius. Albus’ snark was only heightened when he was stressed. “I think I might ask Erica out” she said.

 

“Bit late for that don’t you think?” Albus looked up at her, “I mean, it’s almost Christmas and winter break will sort of put everything on pause won’t it?”.

 

“I thought that maybe if it goes well that we could sort of keep up some communication over break” Rose shrugged. “You know I have no idea what I’m doing”.

 

“I think it could work” Scorpius shrugged. 

 

“Thank you, Scorp” she smiled at him.

 

“She’s obviously interested in you. I think she might be waiting for you to ask”.

 

“I guess if there’s something we know all too well it’s waiting” Albus muttered, looking over at Scorpius. 

 

“Waiting can be worth it” he smiled. 

 

“Maybe I should just go for it. Theoretically I could have someone to be this sappy with as well” Rose sighed.

Scorpius’ eyes snapped back to Rose, “Sorry, I keep getting distracted don’t I”.

 

“I can’t blame you” she shrugged, “you did your waiting”.

 

“Twelve years in Azkaban?” Albus joked. 

 

Rose smirked at that, “I’m going to tell Uncle Harry you’re using his godfather’s pain as a joke”.

 

“You wouldn’t dare”.

 

“Or would I?”.

 

“Rose, you could always take Erica to Hogsmeade” Scorpius interjected, “I do think that’s where a lot of people go for a first date, isn’t it?”.

 

“We could double” Albus added.

 

“And then we could split off so you two have some time alone”.

 

“That’s actually a really good idea” Rose mused.

  
“So when are you going to ask her?” Albus asked. He put his quill down and rested his chin on his hands, leaning against the table, assignment forgotten for the moment. 

 

“Today” Rose declared. She wanted to be confident but really she’d never felt this nervous in her life, and she could tell that the two boys across from her knew that.

 

“Good luck”.

 

“It’ll be fine” Scorpius added.

 

….

 

Rose passed some first years making a snowman on her way through the courtyard. Snow always seemed to delight everyone in the younger years, but somehow Rose had gotten used to it. She found herself fiddling with her scarf and robes as she made her way across the courtyard to a particular group of Gryffindor boys on the other side. She wasn’t usually one to get nervous. She was usually more on the confident side, nervous seemed to be more Albus’ thing, but as she approached her cousin and his friends she suddenly questioned why she was even doing this in the first place. 

 

“Hi Rosey!” James beamed up at her. There was snow melting in his hair and she figured that he’d started some kind of snowball fight with the first years earlier, as was his tradition at this time of year. He looked a little more tired than usual, the stress of the end of term having a significant effect on him.

 

“I needed to tell you something” she replied, adjusting her scarf again for the hundredth time.

 

James didn’t say anything in response, just waited patiently for her to speak.

 

“I’m going to do the thing today” Rose muttered, suddenly very aware of the eyes of James’ friends on her. 

 

The look she received in return was that of delighted surprise, “Really?”.

 

She nodded, trying to convince both James and herself. 

 

“Well” he lowered his voice, leaning towards her, a hand coming up to partially shield his mouth as if their conversation was now somehow private, “last time I saw her she was heading towards the owlery. I think she might have mentioned something about sending a letter to her mother”. 

 

“Thank you” she gave him a nervous smile. 

 

“It’s not nearly as difficult as you think” he reassured.

 

“You would know” she laughed.

 

“The woeful tale of my love life has to be one for another time, my dear Rosey”. 

 

“I’ll tell you how it goes”.

 

“I expect nothing less”.

 

Rose turned on her heel and started making her way back towards the castle. She could feel her nerves bouncing around inside her, but she felt determined that this was something she could do. 

 

She heard James say something to his friends before they returned to their previous conversation, “They grow up so fast don’t they?”.

 

….

 

When Rose found Erica she seemed to be on her way to the library, having come back down from the owlery. She was carrying two textbooks and was flanked by two of her friends. Rose suddenly realised why it had taken so long for Albus to tell Scorpius how he felt and vice versa, this was an incredibly nerve wracking practice. If it didn’t go well she thought she might have to swear off dating forever. But that was a very melodramatic thought and she was trying to focus on the possibility of this being successful, and not on how her nerves were twisting inside her. She walked up to the three girls, pausing in front of them and trying to quickly word something that would make some kind of the sense. Erica and her friends paused in their conversation and she could feel the weight of the three pairs of eyes on her.

 

“Uh, Erica” she muttered, “can I talk to you for a moment?”.

 

Erica smiled at her and Rose felt some kind of jolt slide up her spine. She had to do this. Erica turned to her two friends and told them to head into the library without her, she’d meet them in there. This conversation was more important in this moment. 

 

Rose was at a loss for words. She was supposed to be good with those. She mentally wrote out an incredibly long apology to Albus for the way she’d joked about how long he’d bottled up his own feelings inside of him. She understood now. “Um” she muttered.

 

“I’d love to go out with you, Rose” Erica interrupted. She hugged her books tighter to her chest and continued to smile, “I’ve been sort of waiting for you to ask”. 

 

A thought passed through Rose’s brain quickly,  _ Albus and Scorpius were right. She’d been waiting _ . “I’m sorry, I’m not very used to this” she apologised, her hand waving between the two of them absently.

 

“It’s kind of sweet to see you at a loss for words. You’re usually so eloquent”.

 

“I thought that we could double with Albus and Scorpius if that would make you more comfortable?” she shrugged.

 

Erica nodded, “You have this all planned out don’t you?”.

 

“It was a collaborative effort” Rose admitted. 

 

“Let me guess. We go to Hogsmeade, probably peruse Honeydukes for a bit. You’ll buy me something that I pick out and then we’ll head the The Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer or two. We split off from your friends and head back on a romantic stroll back towards the station. Maybe we walk down to the lake when he get back to Hogwarts. Maybe you kiss me”.

 

“You seemed to have this planned out just as well” her smile turned into a playful smirk. 

 

“Just thinking ahead” she shrugged casually.

 

“You busy tomorrow?”.

 

“Not in the slightest”.

 

“I’ll see you then”.

 

“Looking forward to it”.

 

Rose turned quickly and made her way back down the corridor. She heard the library door close behind Erica as she made her way in to meet up again with her friends. Rose headed straight down the Great Hall in search of her own two friends. Albus and Scorpius were sitting at the Slytherin table with Alice. Albus and Alice were currently taking in part in what looked like a heated game of wizard’s chess. Scorpius had a book laid on the table in front of them and his eyes were flicking between the game and his book. Rose sat down next to Alice and looked around at her friends. There was a sense of euphoria spreading through her, eating away at all of her nerves. 

 

“How’d it go?” Scorpius asked, placing a bookmark between the pages of his book absently. 

 

Albus’ eyes flicked from the chess board to Rose for the briefest second, “She said yes”.

 

“How can you tell?” Alice asked, looking up from the game as well and at Rose.

 

“I can sense it” he shrugged.

 

“Well she did say yes” Rose announced proudly.

 

“Rose, that’s wonderful” Alice smiled at her. 

 

“I’m proud of you” Albus said, eyes on the chessboard, carefully calculating his next move.

 

“I am too” Scorpius added, he closed his book and placed it to the side, leaning his elbows against the table. 

 

“I need some advice” Rose admitted, “and I can’t believe I have to come to you two of all people”.

 

“I take offense to that” Albus smirked.

 

“I’m going to direct this question to you” she replied, “You know that I would never come to you for advice unless I was truly desperate”.

 

“I’m listening very intently, as you can tell”.

 

“How the bloody hell do you kiss someone?”.

 

Scorpius burst out into a fit of laughter, Alice started giggling and Albus actually looked up at her, confusion clear on his face.

 

“Rose, you must be  _ incredibly _ desperate if you’re asking me that” Albus said.

 

“I don’t want to ask James that kind of question”.

 

“I don’t blame you, but I think you should know that I literally have no idea what the hell I’m doing in terms of that kind of stuff”.

 

“I think you’ve been doing pretty well” Scorpius smirked at him, starting to calm down again.

 

“I’ve only kissed you, like, a handful of times”.

 

“And each time has been wonderful, what’s your point?”.

 

“I should have just gone to James” Rose sighed.

 

“Rose” Alice placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder gently, “I don’t think it’s something you have to worry about. It should just come naturally to you, if it happens”.

 

“I’m sure Erica knows how inexperienced you are, so it shouldn’t be a problem” Albus added, shrugging.

 

“You are literally the worst” Rose said to him. “Thank you, Alice”.

 

“That’s ok. I hope it goes well”.

 

“I hope so too”.

 

“Rose, you’ll be fine” Scorpius leaned over, patting her hand gently in comfort, “Don’t worry about it”.

 

“We’re doubling by the way” she muttered.

 

“Tomorrow?”.

 

“Yes”.

 

“This is really exciting” Scorpius beamed at her. 

 

….

Rose slowly made her way over to her cousin. He was sitting near the fire with his friends, a couple of books scattered on the table in front of them. Rose realised this was probably the first time she’d actually seen him studying. Actually studying, since he genuinely seemed to be reading from one of the textbooks, his quill jotting down sentences now and then onto some parchment. She almost felt a little bit guilty for distracting him, since productivity never seemed to be his strong suit. Rose paused in front of James and waited until he looked up at her. 

 

“So how’d it go?” he asked, breaking out into a smile.

  
“She said yes”.

 

“Look lads” James nudged the friend closest to him and pointed up at Rose, “A rose in bloom”.

 

“I hate you”.

 

….

The next morning Albus and Scorpius were sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast, waiting for Rose to appear. Saturday’s were a lot quieter in the mornings, since everyone preferred the sleep in but the two boys had always been early risers and were more than content to wait in the mostly-empty Great Hall with a warm cup of coffee. Albus had brought down his chessboard and the two of them were lazily playing a game of wizard’s chess as they waited. There were only a handful of other students in the room, a group of Ravenclaw girls up one end of the Ravenclaw table, all gathered around a magazine and talking amongst themselves, a lone Hufflepuff student lazily stirring a cup of tea while going over that morning’s copy of the  _ Daily Prophet _ , a few scattered groups of Gryffindors up the other side of the room, and a small group of Slytherins up the other end of the table to them. It made for a nice calming atmosphere, which might have been why the boys actually preferred quiet Saturday mornings more than anything else. 

 

“How do you think today’s going to go?” Scorpius asked.

 

“I hope for Rose’s sake that it goes well” Albus replied, “knight to E3”.

 

The two boys watched as Albus’ night moved, taking down one of Scorpius’ pawns as it went. 

 

“That was rude” Scorpius said.

 

“It was only a pawn” Albus shrugged.

 

“Aren’t we all just pawns in a larger game of chess? Bishop to G6”.

 

“No need to get philosophical on me. It’s way too early for that. Rook to G6”.

 

“I actually needed that bishop you know”.

 

“I can’t go easy on you. No matter how much I love you” Albus beamed at him.

 

“The competitive side of you is just a little bit attractive” Scorpius replied.

 

“Just a little bit, huh?” Albus smirked.

 

“Yeah”.

 

“Will it still be attractive when you lose?”.

 

“Don’t test me” Scorpius laughed. His eyes scanned the board slowly, trying to think of a strategy that would help him win. Even if he secretly wanted Albus to win just for the fun of it. And for his reaction.

 

The two boys looked up as Rose sat across from them. She automatically reached for a clean mug, charming it to make a cup of tea for her while she got herself some food. She wasn’t quite looking at the two of them, instead focusing on her task at hand. Really Rose’s mind was running a mile a minute. She was incredibly aware that she had a date later that day. And she truly had no idea what to do with herself in that kind of situation.

 

“Nervous?” Scorpius asked as Rose continued to fiddle with her cup of tea instead of looking at them.

 

“I don’t have any dating experience but I really don’t think you should be overthinking this” Albus added. 

 

“So many things could go wrong” she finally looked up at them.

 

“The more you worry about it, the harder it’ll be” Scorpius reminded.

 

“Why are you so worried about it anyway? You really like this girl” Albus said.

 

“You just answered your own question, Al” Rose sighed. “Why did it take you so long to tell Scorp how you feel?”.

 

“Because I was afraid of losing him. Ok, I see your point”.

 

“Exactly”.

 

“Albus, you never would have lost me” Scorpius looked at him. 

 

“I appreciate that but you know how trapped in my thoughts I can get” Albus replied.

 

Scorpius smiled at that and pressed a kiss to Albus’ forehead gently. “You’re right, I do” he said.

 

“You two are so adorable” Rose muttered, “I want to be where you two are”.

 

“You might want to try going on more than one date first” Albus smirked at her. 

 

“A girl can dream”.

 

“So do we have a plan for today or are you just going to wing this entire thing?” Scorpius asked. He pushed a copy of  _ The Daily Prophet  _ aside and disregarded the chess game for the moment. 

 

“Erica has a plan” she replied.

 

“That’s reassuring” Albus said.

 

“I’m sure everything will be fine” Scorpius smiled, “Rose, you’re worrying over nothing”.

 

Rose looked over at the doors and noticed as a large group of her Gryffindor friends made their way into the Great Hall. She looked back at Albus and Scorpius for a moment, feeling a little guilty about abandoning them.

 

“Go and sit with your friends” Scorpius shrugged. “We have this game of wizard’s chess to finish anyway”.

 

“I kind of just want to be distracted for a while” she admitted.

 

“Understandable”.

 

“Thank you. I’ll see you both later, ok?” Rose smiled at them and stood, grabbing her unfinished cup of tea and making her way over the Gryffindor table to sit with her other friends. 

 

“Something just occurred to me” Albus muttered, looking over at Scorpius. 

 

“Hmm?” he muttered, looking up from the chessboard again.

 

“Rose isn’t the only one going on her first date today”.

 

Scorpius smiled at that. “Are you nervous?” he asked.

 

“Yes” he admitted.

 

“Why?”.

 

“What if it’s shit?” Albus asked, looking away from Scorpius again.

 

Scorpius shifted closer to Albus, taking his hand gently. “Albus, it could be the worst date in the world and I wouldn’t care as long as I get to experience it with you”.

 

Albus pulled on Scorpius’ robes slightly, somehow wanting him to be even closer, “I kind of want to kiss you”.

 

“Why don’t you?” he asked.

 

“Too many people” Albus muttered.

 

“Later then” Scorpius smiled.

 

“You sure?” he looked up at him.

 

“You’re worth waiting for, Albus Potter”.

 

Albus beamed at that. He let go of Scorpius’ hand and slid his arm around his waist instead. “You’re just stalling so you can have more time to think about how to beat me. You’re not going to” he teased.

 

“You’re very cocky today, you know”.

 

“What can I say? I love winning chess”.

 

“Must be time to bring out my queen then” Scorpius muttered, eyes scanning the chessboard one more time.

 

“Ironic that, isn’t it?”.

 

“You like to think you’re funny, don’t you?”.

 

“Just admit that you’re going to lose” Albus smirked.

  
“Malfoys never go down without a fight”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been weeks since I wrote it but I still laugh over that last line for reasons I'm not even sure of. We are closing in on the end of this which is sort of strange for me. It's been such a thrill to post this. I'll see you all soon for the next chapter :)


	15. Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like Hogsmeade double date fluff. This chapter is like 900% fluff and I am so alive. Enjoy, my friends!

Hogsmeade trips were always looked forward to amongst the older years. It allowed them a break from classes and responsibilities, even if it was only for a few hours or so. The snow only made the trip to Hogsmeade even more magical. There were dozens of Hogwarts students, wrapped up in sweaters, coats and scarfs to keep warm, wandering the streets. Albus, Scorpius, Rose and Erica were making their way from the train station towards the little town. Albus and Rose were both pretending not to seem as nervous as they were. They were both incredibly jittery. 

 

“I think my favourite part of Hogsmeade this time of year is the Christmas collection that Honeydukes releases” Erica was saying. She was holding Rose’s hand and trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach because of it. 

 

“I think mine is the snow” Scorpius replied. He had his arm around Albus’ shoulders so that he was almost tucked into his side. Albus had his arm around his waist, pulling at his coat a little. “Hogsmeade always looks nicer when it’s snowing”.

 

“I agree actually”.

 

“I don’t think Hogsmeade ever doesn’t look nice” Albus mused, trying to get over his nerves. This was a normal thing to be doing. Double dates were normal. People did this all the time. 

 

“Touche” Erica smiled. “What’s yours Rose?” she asked.

 

Rose was blushing, however hard it was to tell. She was a little bit grateful for her dark skin for that reason. If she was as pale as her father she’s never be able to hide it. She’d be in the same boat as Albus. “The Three Broomsticks Christmas drinks” she muttered, voice a little quieter than she wanted it to be. She couldn’t stop thinking about the feeling of Erica’s hand in hers. 

 

“Good one”.

 

“I think they spike the butterbeer with something” Scorpius replied. 

 

“Eggnog probably” Albus shrugged.

 

“What’s that?”.

 

“Sometimes I forget how little you know about muggles. You have so much to learn”.

 

“Maybe you can teach me” he smirked.

 

“Gross”.

“That’s not what he means Albus and you know it” Rose teased, starting to come into her own again. 

 

“You both know me so well” Albus smiled, eyes flicking between the two of them. 

 

“Should we head to Honeydukes first?” Erica asked as the small buildings came into view and the bright colours of the Honeydukes front window appeared. Hogsmeade was such a neat little town. 

 

“That was your plan wasn’t it?” Rose beamed at her. 

 

“To convince you to buy me sweets? Absolutely?”.

 

Rose laughed at her and grabbed the door to Honeydukes before it closed behind a group of fourth years that were dashing out. “After you” she smirked.

 

“Oh, a gentlewoman” Erica smirked. “I’m so lucky”.

 

“I’m the lucky one”.

 

“Gay” Albus laughed.

 

“Shut up, Albus” she beamed, stuck her tongue out at him before following Erica inside.

 

“Are you ok?” Scorpius asked, catching the door before it closed again.

 

“What do you mean?” Albus muttered as a group of girls made their way out of Honeydukes, giggling at the two of them.

 

“You just seem quieter than usual” Scorpius shrugged.

 

“I’m just nervous, I guess”.

 

“Why? It’s just me”.

 

Albus smiled at that. “And you’re … well … you”.

 

“And you’re amazing” Scorpius smiled, pressing a kiss to Albus’ forehead gently. “Come on, we’re keeping the girls waiting”.

 

Albus followed Scorpius inside. He wasn’t surprised when it seemed that half of Hogwarts had squashed themselves into the relatively tiny shop. Honeydukes was popular all year round, and with more students being free from large masses of assignment then there was more of a chance of them having time to come to Hogsmeade and buy out Honeydukes. Albus spotted Rose and Erica on the other side of the shop, looking at the special Christmas inspired sweets. 

 

“Did you want anything while we’re here?” Scorpius asked, taking Albus’ hand.

 

“Scorp, you don’t have to buy me things” Albus looked up at him, a little shocked. 

 

“I know, but if you want anything just let me know, ok?” he smiled at him.

 

“You’re a lot better at this than I am” Albus muttered, starting to slowly make his way towards Rose and Erica. 

  
“What do you mean?”.

 

“Dating. In general, I guess”.

 

Scorpius laughed at that and he wasn’t quite expecting it so Albus paused and turned to look at him. “You’re adorable” Scorpius beamed at him.

 

“So are you”.

 

“See? You’re not doing so bad” he smirked.

 

“I think that’s the first compliment I’ve given you all day”.

 

“Firstly, it isn’t. And secondly, I don’t really mind”.

 

Albus smiled faintly before continuing over to his two friends. He gently pushed past a group of girls that were yelling about which sweets they wanted and came to a stop next to Rose. She looked up at the two of them, beaming. Albus noticed that she’d let go of Erica’s hand. Probably because she needed to hold onto the sweets. 

 

“Albus thinks he’s a bad boyfriend” Scorpius said.

 

Rose laughed at that, “Albus isn’t good at many things -”.

 

“Hey!” Albus protested.

 

“But being your boyfriend is one of them. You have to let me finish my sentence before interrupting, Al” she teased.

 

“You three have such a good friendship” Erica smiled at them. “It’s really nice to sort of experience it first hand”.

 

“You hear about us more than you see us, don’t you?” Rose smirked.

 

“A little bit, yeah”.

 

“I wonder what everyone says about us” Scorpius mused. He felt Albus shift uncomfortably beside him and let go of his hand, wrapping an arm around his waist instead. 

 

“Mainly that you three are the ultimate trio and that Scorpius is inhumanly attractive” she shrugged.

 

“That’s sweet” Rose smiled.

 

“They’re not wrong” Albus muttered, looking up at Scorpius. 

 

“Dork” he muttered.

 

“Well, how attractive you all are really” Erica corrected.

 

“All of us?” Albus asked, a little shocked.

 

She nodded, beaming. “There are things that can’t be unheard” she said.

 

“Maybe keep those things in particular from me then” he replied.

 

Erica laughed at that, “Are you two going to get anything while we’re here?”.

 

The two boys looked at each other before shrugging. 

 

“We’re ok for now” Scorpius said. 

 

“We’ll just grab these then and head to The Three Broomsticks?” Rose asked, even though she knew the answer was yes. 

 

The four of them made their way to the counter. Rose paid for both her sweets and Erica’s, much to her amusement, before they headed back towards the door. Hogsmeade wasn’t a very large town, which was definitely a good thing at the moment. A very cold wind had picked up as the four of them made their way over the The Three Broomsticks. They were grateful to the warmth of the pub as they entered. And were incredibly happy to secure a table in the corner, away from most of the other patrons. Erica moved her chair closer to Rose, resting an arm along the back of Rose’s chair sheepishly. The result was that Rose was sitting up straighter, a little bit shocked but mostly just happy. Albus shifted his own chair just a little bit closer to Scorpius, taking his hand instead.

 

“It’s very snuggly in here, isn’t it?” Erica asked, smirking and pointedly not looking at Rose who was once again blushing. 

 

“A little” Albus shrugged as Scorpius fought the urge to laugh.

 

“Our next quidditch game is going to be interesting, isn’t it?” she asked.

 

“Just because you’re dating my cousin doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you” he replied.

 

“That’s true. He won’t even go easy on me in wizard’s chess” Scorpius smirked.

 

“I won fair and square and you know it” Albus looked at him.

 

“I know”.

 

“Does that mean there’ll be a second date?” Rose asked quietly. 

 

“I was hoping there would be more than just a second date actually” Erica beamed at her. 

 

“You guys better hurry then. The term will be ending soon” Albus teased.

 

“Shut up, Al” Rose groaned.

 

“Looks like your grandma will have to make another Weasley sweater” Scorpius smirked.

 

“You two are the worst”.

 

“You befriended us” he reminded.

 

“I should have just stuck with Albus”.

 

“You know, with the way you three are, I think you would have ended up together anyway” Erica shrugged. 

 

“Really?” Albus asked.

 

“Look at you two” she replied, “You’re perfect for each other”.

 

“You’re not the only person to tell us that” Scorpius mused.

 

“Maybe you came from the same star”.

 

“I am named after two constellations”.

 

“Two?”.

 

“Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy” he shrugged.

  
“Your dad really wanted you to be a nerd, didn’t he?” Erica laughed.

 

“I hope so because that’s what he got” Albus teased.

 

“It’s a lot better than your name, Al” Rose smirked.

 

Albus sighed quietly, “You’re right”.

 

“It’s like Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny used up all the good boy’s names on James and had to scramble for something to name you”.

 

“They could have named me after a lot of other people and yet here we are” he shrugged.

 

“Albus isn’t so bad” Erica mused.

 

“My middle name is horrible”.

 

“Then I’ll let you keep it to yourself” she smiled.

 

“Thanks”.

 

….

 

After two butterbeers each and a significant amount of laughter the four of them decided to split off into pairs. Rose and Erica wanted to explore Hogsmeade a little more. They’d heard something about a new shop opening up further down and wanted to check it out before heading back to the castle. Albus offered to buy Scorpius something in the book store a few shops down but he just smiled and said that he had enough already, and if he came home with more books than his brought with him his father would have a crisis. Their library was getting quite full, thanks to Scorpius’ reading addiction. So the two of them started heading back towards the castle. The wind had subsided and there was just a little bit of sun peeking through the clouds. It made the snow look glittery as the two of them walked along. 

 

Throughout the last few hours Albus’ nerves had finally subsided and he was feeling inexplicably happy. Especially with Scorpius next to him, holding his hand. When the buildings started to fall away behind them and they were on the path back to Hogwarts, Albus pulled Scorpius aside gently.

 

“You ok?” Scorpius asked, a little concerned. 

 

“I’m not going to lie to you” Albus muttered, beaming up at Scorpius, “I kind of want to kiss you right now”.

 

“There’s a lot of people around, Al. I can wait” Scorpius returned his smile, stroking Albus’ cheek.

 

Albus shook his head, taking hold of Scorpius’ coat easily and pulling him closer. “No, I want to now”.

 

“This is awfully spontaneous of you” he smirked.

 

“It’s not spontaneous if you discuss it first”.

 

Scorpius laughed and let Albus pull him into a kiss, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him closer. 

 

“Get a room, Potter!”.

 

Albus pulled away, looking over his shoulder at what happened to be some of his quidditch team members. Their expressions ranged from beaming smiles to devious smirks. “Get a girlfriend!” he called back.

 

“You got me!” one of them threw his hands out, acting mock offended. 

 

The group laughed and continued on towards Hogsmeade. Albus turned back to Scorpius. He looked like he wanted to laugh.

 

“That was a good comeback” Scorpius commented.

 

“Shut up” Albus laughed, leaning up to kiss him again. Albus wrapped his arms around Scorpius’ neck, one hand sliding into his hair easily. A part of him was still aware that there were people around and literally any of them would see this, but there was a larger part of him that didn’t care. The next thing Albus was aware of was something cold hitting him. He pulled away, shocked and turned to look at his beaming cousin. “Bloody hell, Rose. Why did you do that?”.

 

“I’m sorry” Rose smirked, “I just couldn’t resist”. Erica was next to her, holding her hand and absolutely losing herself in a fit of laughter. She was holding two bags, one with her Honeydukes sweets and another from the other shop they went to. 

 

Albus rubbed at his coat absently, trying to get the cold snow off him. Even though the sun was shining a little, that didn’t make the snow any more pleasant. 

 

“You two look kind of perfect, you know” Rose continued, “If I had a polaroid camera it would made a great photo”.

 

“I think Lily has one, for future reference” Albus replied easily. The snow had melted against his coat a little but he didn’t really mind. Since he’d spun to face Rose he missed Scorpius reaching down into the snow and crafting a perfect snowball. That was until he threw it at Rose. It hit just below her shoulder.

 

“Hey!”.

 

“That was revenge!” Scorpius yelled.

 

“You’ll pay for that!”.

 

“Will I?”.

 

Erica let go of Rose’s hand and picked up some snow and curled it carefully between her hands, grateful that she was wearing gloves that day. She tossed it back at Scorpius but it just missed him. “Damn” she muttered.

 

“Missed me!” Scorpius teased. 

 

“Are we having a snowball fight?” Albus asked, eyes flicking between his friends. “What are we? Twelve?”.

 

His words were left ignored as Rose threw another snowball at Scorpius, just missing him. Scorpius aimed one at Erica and it managed to hit her arm. 

 

“You better run for cover, Malfoy!” Rose called to him. 

 

“Al, I’d appreciate a little help if you don’t mind” Scorpius said, handing him some snow. 

 

Albus looked at him, bewildered for a moment but he started crafting a snowball quickly and threw it at Rose. It almost missed her, just managing to snag in her hair.

 

“I hate you!” she called to him. 

 

Albus wondered briefly what they must have looked like. Four fifth years having a snowball fight as if they were eleven again but he didn’t really mind. As he looked between his smiling and laughing friends the opinions of others faded away and Albus lost himself entirely in the moment. Erica managed to somehow get a snowball in his hair and he cursed because that would take him forever to get out. He shook his head absently, snow scattering and only making it worse. It made him feel a little better when she managed to catch Scorpius’ hair as well.

 

“We need a strategy” Scorpius muttered, hiding behind a tree that they were using for cover. 

 

“I love you” Albus said.

 

“I love you too, Al, but we need to destroy them”.

 

“You’re right” he laughed. “What do you have in mind?”.

 

….

 

Scorpius and Albus stumbled into the Slytherin Dungeon in a fit of laughter and completely drenched thanks to the snowball fight. They startled the quiet atmosphere of the common room, but when the students realised that it was just them making a ruckus again they quickly went back to whatever they were doing. The two boys made it up to their dorm without too much effort. Albus tried to shake as much of the snow out of his hair as he could but it was definitely stuck. 

 

“You look like a puppy trying to shake themselves dry” Scorpius teased, taking off his coat and lying it on his bed. 

 

“You don’t know how hard it’s going to be to get this all out. My hair is literally the worst” Albus muttered.

 

“I think it’s pretty great actually” Scorpius smirked, taking a few steps towards him.

 

“You would say that” Albus laughed. “There’s some in your hair too, you know”.

 

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair absently, he could feel the snow in it but it seemed to have settled on their way back. “I’ll deal with it later”.

 

“You’re beautiful you know, snow and all” Albus beamed.

 

“I’m in love with you” Scorpius replied.

 

Albus paused for a moment, letting the words rush over him for a moment, before breaking out into the biggest grin that Scorpius had ever seen. “Is that why you offered to buy me those sweets?”

 

“Sweets are the best way to make new friends” he replied easily.

 

“I’m in love with you too”.

 

Scorpius smiled back and pulled Albus in for a kiss. Albus smiled into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Scorpius’ waist and pulling him closer still. When the door was pushed open the two of them split apart quickly. One of their roommates paused in the doorway. He didn’t look too shocked at what he’d walked in on.

 

“Just getting my Astronomy textbook” he smiled at them, a little awkwardly and made his way over to his bed quickly. “Good to see that you two are together though”.

 

“We’re glad we have your blessing” Albus laughed.

 

“Just don’t let me walk in on you two shagging, ok? That would be way too weird” he grabbed his textbook.

 

“Won’t be a problem”.

 

“The Room of Requirement exists, if you two need it at any point” he replied.

 

“We won’t be but thanks anyway” Scorpius smirked.

 

“Got my textbook. I’ll just head back out the door and you two can keep snogging”.

 

“See you later” Albus beamed.

 

“Enjoy yourselves” he winked, a smirk appearing on his face before he closed the door behind him.

 

Albus turned back to Scorpius to see that he was biting down on his lip, trying to prevent himself from laughing. “Just another eventful day at Hogwarts” he smirked.

  
“Come here, you dork” he laughed, pulling Albus in for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a bunch of little nerds. I love them so much.   
> Alright, so the next chapter is the epilogue. It's a little shorter than the other chapters but I hope you all will stick around for it anyway.   
> Until next time!


	16. Epilogue: Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can believe it we've reached the end of this fic. This is the longest fic I've ever sustained and managed to finish so I think I'll always be incredibly proud of it. I hope you've all liked it. You've been very nice which is encouraging to say the least.   
> (side note: I saw Fantastic Beasts yesterday and oh my god!!!! It was so amazing. You guys will not be disappointed!!)

The Hogwarts Express was waiting patiently at Hogsmeade station once again as students made their way onto the train before heading home for Christmas. Scorpius, Albus, Rose and Erica were quick to jump on, hoping for a good spot. They managed to snag one pretty easily. The four of them placed their bags over their heads, taking one side each. Scorpius had his arm wrapped around Albus’ shoulders and Rose had one wrapped around Erica’s waist. The two of them had decided to keep in touch over the holidays, hoping for the chance to go on more dates after they came back for a new term. Albus already knew that his Aunt Hermione would invite Erica to spend Christmas with them all. Scorpius would be there too, of course. Which made him incredibly happy. 

 

“Can you believe the first half of the year is already over?” Rose asked as the train pulled to a start. 

 

“It feels a little bit unreal” Albus mused.

 

“Christmas seemed to come early this year” Scorpius replied, gazing over at Albus.

 

“You’re so cheesy, Scorp” Rose laughed.

 

“I’m not even sorry” he replied, not looking at her.

 

Albus kissed Scorpius’ cheek quickly, beaming at him. “I love you” he said.

 

“I love you too”.

 

“Ultimate cheese fest” Rose teased.

 

“I think it’s sweet” Erica smiled. “To be fair they did wait a long time for this”.

 

“True” she mused. “I’ll put up with it then”.

 

“I admire your strength” Albus smirked, looking back at the two girls. 

 

Rose rolled her eyes at him, smirking. 

 

There was a knock on their compartment door and Alice opened the door slowly. “Ok if I sit with you all?” she smiled at them.

 

“If you’re ok with being a fifth wheel” Erica smirked.

 

“Always” she laughed, taking a seat next to Rose. “It’s nice seeing you all so happy” she said.

“We’ll have to find you someone next” Rose nudged her friend, gently.

 

“Good luck” Alice laughed. 

 

“I know at least one Hufflepuff boy that has an eye on you” Erica smiled.

 

“Really?”.

 

“Yeah, we’ll see what happens when we all get back to Hogwarts” she laughed.

 

“Hopefully something amazing” Scorpius said.

 

“You always are” Albus muttered.

 

“I’m a little shocked that your flirting is so seamless”.

 

“Did I say that out loud?” Albus muttered, his eyes widening as shock overcame his features.

 

Scorpius started laughing, as did Rose. Erica was quick to catch on, and then Alice and before long all five of them were laughing. 

 

….

 

When The Hogwarts Express pulled up at Platform  9¾ the five of them started their goodbyes. Alice hugged them all, waving as she left, Erica hugged Albus and Scorpius, giving Rose a kiss on the cheek and a smile. Rose pulled her into a hug before she could leave and the two of them promised to send letters over the break. Rose looked at the two boys, beaming at them.

 

“Ready to face your families?” she asked.

 

A thought suddenly occurred to Albus. “I forgot to owl” he muttered.

 

“Al, sometimes you need to remember to speak up”.

 

“I forgot to owl my parents about Scorpius” he said, louder.

 

Rose burst out into a fit of laughter because  _ of course  _ he had. 

 

“I must have distracted you” Scorpius smirked, looking down at him. “I don’t think they’ll mind anyway” he reminded.

 

“They won’t. I just can’t believe I forgot to owl”.

 

“Come on, I need to see their reactions” Rose grinned, grabbing her bag and tugging on Albus’ sleeve gently. 

 

“We’re coming, relax” he laughed. 

 

Albus decided that Rose looked way too smug as the three of them made their way over to their parents. There were hundreds of students meeting their parents on the platform and he was grateful that their families usually stood in the same spot every year. It made them much easier to find. Rose was practically skipping along and Albus groaned quietly to himself. 

  
“You ok?” Scorpius asked. The two of them were holding hands and he considered pulling away since this seemed to be really daunting for Albus.

 

“I’m ok” he squeezed his hand. “I just hate when Rose has the upperhand”.

 

“Happens often?”.

 

“She’s incredibly clever” he muttered.

 

“Just like you” Scorpius kissed his cheek quickly before their families came into view. 

 

“Uncle Harry! Uncle Harry!” Rose rushed up to them all. “Guess which of your sons finally got a date?” she beamed.

 

“I’m going to say Albus, since James has had a lot of dates” Harry smiled at her. 

  
“Right answer”.

 

Albus stopped in front of his family, hesitating but still holding firmly onto Scorpius’ hand. Scorpius was rubbing his thumb in little circles, since he knew that would help calm him down. “I forgot to owl” Albus said.

 

“And?” Harry asked.

 

“You’re not mad?”.

 

“Why would we be mad?” Ginny smiled. 

 

Albus let go of Scorpius’ hand and hugged his mother first. And then his father.

 

Rose hugged her mother and father as well. “Mum, can Erica come over for Christmas?” she asked, looking up at her mother.

 

“Of course she can” Hermione replied.

 

Albus noted the fact that Aunt Hermione hadn’t asked who Erica was. Of course she hadn’t, Rose would’ve remembered to write. 

 

Scorpius hugged his father somewhat hesitantly. He hadn’t said anything yet but he was hugging him tighter than usual and Scorpius thought that that must have meant something.

 

“I’m happy for you” Draco said, pulling away and holding his son at arms length. 

 

“Thank you” he whispered.

 

Lily appeared, squealing before running to hug her mother. Then Hugo appeared, hugging his father first and then his mother. When James sauntered over Albus realised just how entirely happy he felt. He didn’t even know why he’d been worried about this at all. He looked over to see that Rose was giving Scorpius a hug, telling him to write to her and that she’d see him at Christmas. Lily and Hugo were telling Uncle Ron about some pranks that Peeves had pulled throughout the term and James was talking to Harry in a quiet voice. Something about his studies, because he’d actually managed to focus on them that year. Scorpius pulled Albus into a hug and he felt complete.

 

“I love you” Scorpius said in his ear.

 

“I love you too” he smiled, burying his head against Scorpius’ shoulder for a moment.

 

“I’ll write to you every day and think about you every second”.

 

“That’s a little bit of an overkill isn’t it?” he teased.

 

“Sorry”.

 

“Don’t apologise. It was very suave” Albus pulled away, beaming at him.

 

“Only for you” he smirked.

 

While the two boys were hugging they missed Draco pulling a small bag of coins out of his pocket and handing them to Harry.

 

“There you go, Potter” he said.

 

“Thank you, Malfoy” Harry beamed.

 

“I’m glad you were right”.

 

“I’m glad I was too”.

 

Scorpius pulled away and kissed Albus’ forehead gently. “I’ll see you at Christmas” he said.

 

“See you at Christmas, Scorp”.

 

Scorpius turned and he and his father started making their way down to the other side of the platform.

 

“Don’t forget to write to me as well!” Rose called after him.

 

“I won’t!”.

 

Rose threw an arm around Albus’ shoulders as the Potters and Granger-Weasleys started towards the barrier. “Feels good to be home, doesn’t it?” she asked him.

 

“Yeah” he smiled, “it does”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to say a few things at the end of this. Firstly, I wanted to thank my girlfriend who read every chapter of this even though she doesn't like reading romance, has never read TCC and doesn't even really care too much about these characters (my god, the rants she has had to endure. I'm sorry, my love). Without her encouragement I doubt this fic would exist as it does so there you go.   
> Secondly, thank you all for reading it and leaving kudos and nice comments. It really made my day every time, bless you all.   
> I'm working on a handful of other fics so I'm sure I'll see you guys again soon! :)  
> Until next time!


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